


re:Another Side

by shinseikakumei



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Drama, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Gen, Light-Hearted, Original Character(s), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-22
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2017-12-27 07:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 62,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/976152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinseikakumei/pseuds/shinseikakumei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xirena -- a Nobody who wields the power of Dreams -- is a peppy new addition to the Organization. Coming in at Number IX, she was the first member to be recruited for quite some time, and she also had the honor of being their first girl Nobody. She comes with no memories, but instead an eagerness to learn what it's like to be alive. She attaches herself to Axel who has found himself as a sort of teacher to her, but dark secrets swirl in the shadows with more being formed each day. A choice distantly lays before them -- not an easy one, but so very necessary --  that will seal their fates forever. Days of innocent laughter and fun with friends can't last forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue//The Ending

 

 

**Prologue: The Ending**

 

_ And I feel the fear in me _ _  
_ __ And I don’t wanna fall asleep   
  


 

 

She feels nothing but pain, in her physical being and in her heart, as her body curls up on the hard ground she's fallen to. She can't feel the coldness of the stone structure she was on she couldn't feel the grainy texture nor the sensation of her clothes against her skin... and her eyes provided nothing more than a distorted window to the outside world for her broken mind. The girl's ears, however, seemed to be the most lucid of all her sensory organs. She heard footsteps slowly walking away from her, so slow she swore that time was slowing down with each passing second. Her blurred vision could only make out a black blob in the shape of a man with his back turned to her as he abandoned her body.

 

Who was that man?

 

Why is he just leaving me here?

 

Her thoughts were an unsorted mess as she struggled to stay anchored in reality. She could sense the other side that she was being dragged towards and, while it wasn't clear how, she knew it was a place that she didn't want to be. Her mind clawed and scratched to stay with it, but when her ears picked up the only words she could recall that man saying, her grip on the real world loosened to it's breaking point.

 

“That should take care of it.” His gruff voice spoke.

 

It was ambiguous, but that's what made it so terrible. The girl not knowing what he meant coupled with her painfully dismayed state of being was pushing her towards the end. She wanted this situation to make sense, but at this point that was just laughably unrealistic. Unable to stay conscious for even a second longer, her eyes sharply fell shut and her body went from tense to limp on the flat terrain she was laid up on.

 

–

 

A chillingly blank room was the stage set for this story. The walls, floors and ceiling were all a dull gray, and the few pieces of furniture all followed the same color scheme and had simplistic designs. On the bed, however, was a splash of color in the form of a girl. Her rosy skin, violet hued hair and black coat stood out brilliantly against the backdrop of monochrome. Her eyes were softly shut as she laid flat on her back, presumably sleeping, but none could be too sure yet.

 

“Did you bring us back a corpse, Xigbar?”

 

Beside the girl's bed were three men, all wearing the same black attire that the sleeping lady was clad in. The man who spoke had a sour look on his face, which had a deep “X” scar in the center of his features. His blue hair was long and spiky at the top; he wore his hair with some of the lengthy part swept over the front of his shoulders.

 

“She's just having a deep snooze.” The man he addressed – Xigbar – responded dismissively, waving his hand limply to accent his words. His tone then grew more serious, “She'll get up eventually. Just hold your damn horses.”

 

The blue haired man scowled at him, but Xigbar was unfazed. He crossed his lanky arms over his broad chest and smirked devilishly at the other. Xigbar had a scar too, albeit his was more conventional in it's appearance: a jagged mark starting at his jaw and trailing up his hollow cheek and ending at a safe enough distance away from his eye; which was another thing of note, as he only had one of them. The presumably missing or non-functional one was covered in a basic black eyepatch. Like the other man, his hair was long. However, Xigbar's gray streaked hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail. These two had exactly one immediately visible thing in common physically though... they both had eyes the color of gold.

 

Between them though was a man that practically dwarfed the two. He as well had gold eyes, but his dark skin was untouched by scars or blemishes. Silver spiky hair fell around his shoulders, with some stands framing his chiseled face. This man hadn't said a word and his face was unmoving as he stared down at the girl in her slumber.

 

“Mm...”

 

A small, hushed sound escaped from her and all eyes were fully focused onto her face. Her facial muscles twitched and her purple head lolled to the side, facing away from her observers. She groaned again, but louder and deeper this time, suggesting that waking herself up was a daunting task. She wrinkled her nose and squinted her still-closed eyes in discomfort before they slowly opened up for the first time. Or at least, the first time as far as anyone knew...

 

“Seeeee I told you!” Xigbar sneered smugly and victoriously at the blue haired man, “Well just look at the time! I'm late for my date with the craps table at Lucky Luxord's!”

 

The blue haired man's mouth dropped open, a roaring shout ready to pierce the air directed at Xigbar was unexpectedly quieted by the tallest man. He raised one of his large arms up as a sign for the other man to remain silent, and the man obliged.

 

“Leave us.” He spoke in an effortlessly commanding voice.

 

The blue haired man looked to him, hesitant to go, but he silently bent to the commander's will and took his leave.

 

The girl felt groggy and woozy, almost as if the room was spinning. She was hardly able to focus on anything those three were saying at all, however her attention was caught when the tall man spoke directly to her in the same dry yet powerful as he did before.

 

“You seek answers.” He murmured, eyes narrowing, “I can give you purpose.”

 

“Ohh...” The girl groaned, weakly smiling stupidly, “Ok.”

 

 

**Chapter I: Dancing on Raindrops**

 

_When I turn into someone else  
I know that it can’t be beat _

 

 

The young girl sat on the edge of her bed, hands folded neatly in her lap. Her expression was focused as she tried to remember everything that her commander had told her the night prior.

 

 

“ _Number IX. Xirena.” He said deeply, “The Dancer of Dreams.”_

 

“ _That sure is a nice name....” Xirena smiled, sitting up in her bed now, “But I'm not sure where I am or even who I am. Do you know?”_

 

“ _You are a Nobody and have been recruited into Organization XIII, and I am it's leader: Xemnas.” The man continued, his gold eyes looking down on her at a sharp angle as he didn't bother to lower his head to address her at all._

 

“ _Oh ok!” Xirena replied with a peppy grin._

 

_Xemnas remained expressionless, but kept his eyes locked on her as long as he could as he turned away from her._

 

“ _Tomorrow morning you will report to the round room where you will be formally introduced to the rest of the members.” He declared._

 

_The imposing figure didn't wait for a response before he took his leave, but how he did it was very strange. A pillar of what could only be described as darkness appeared in front of him with no warning, causing Xirena to yelp as she had never witnessed this sort of phenomenon before (that she could remember anyway). While she was in her stupor, the silver haired man walked forward with long strides and entered the darkness... disappearing into it. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the dark portal vanished into nothingness. Xirena couldn't stop staring at the spot where it had appeared, her eyes wide with wary curiosity._

 

Still sitting on her bed she took in a deep breath, holding for not even a second before sharply exhaling.

 

“My name is Xirena.” She said to herself.

 

Xirena had been repeating this phrase to herself since she had woken up. It wasn't that she was afraid of forgetting it, but the more she heard herself say it out loud it made it more real with each utterance; and this new “life” that was thrust upon her was the exact opposite: unreal. Xirena received no explanation about what a Nobody specifically _is_ or what the Organization even _does_ yet, and she worried she never would.

 

The MOST bewildering thing though, was that she remembered nothing of who she was before she woke up in the very bed she was seated on now. Try as she might, Xirena couldn't even find the tiniest fragment of a memory in her head... No precious memories of warmth and delight, none of bittersweet good-byes and none of pain nor sadness either. This lacking in her soul left her confused on how to feel, or maybe she didn't know how to feel about _anything_ happening around her in that moment.

 

Xirena felt compelled to explore though. She glanced around the room as she slowly rose to her feet, which were clad in knee-high black boots; but the boots were hardly visible under the thick black coat she wore. It's what all the others she had met wore too. All black... coats, gloves, pants, shirts, shoes and every other garment in their wardrobe. The black against her alabaster white skin was quite a noticeable contrast, but hardly what would catch an onlookers attention the most upon first glance. Mingling with highly pigmented pink lips and lightly rosy cheeks were absurd entries to her color palette. Xirena's eyes were a vibrant red like an expertly cut ruby laid out in the sun, catching the light and glittering brilliantly. Her hair was cut into a short bob with swooping side bangs that parted from right to left. Her short mane of hair was equally as note-worthy as her eyes... It was purple, akin to a freshly bloomed orchid in the spring.

 

She wandered to the adjacent right wall where a desk and chair was situated. On the top of the desk was a notebook with the word “journal” printed on the cover, with a pen beside it. On it's other side was the only item that wasn't monochrome in the entire room: a star shaped charm made of glass, colored purple as if to match her hair. Before Xemnas had left her alone the night before, he noted that “the thing on her desk” was the only thing she had on her when she was found. But, just as expected, Xirena had no idea what it was or what significance – if any – it held. She knew one thing for sure though: it was quite pretty.

 

She picked it up carefully with one hand and raised it to eye level. It felt fragile, like it would surely shatter if dropped or even just grasped too tightly. Xirena felt a pang in her chest when she thought about the possibility of this trinket breaking, a stab of unpleasant feelings that was completely inexplicable. Xirena, wishing to forget those baseless woes, placed the star back on the desk – careful not to put it near any edges – and continued exploring her room. There was of course the bed and a dresser to keep all her garments in, otherwise the “living” area was bare. There was a small bathroom attached to the room with all the necessary items within, and of course it had the same monochromatic color scheme as the rest of the room. Xirena found it rather boring.

 

A knock came at Xirena's door suddenly, startling her and shocking her out of her black and white hypnosis.

 

“Coming!” She called, quickly shuffling to the door that lead out into the rest of the building.

 

With great enthusiasm she grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, eager to see who had come to visit her. She thought it might be one of the three men that hovered over her the other night because she didn't entertain the idea that anyone else could be there, despite Xemnas telling her she was the ninth member of their organization. This was just one of many details that she found herself forgetful of. With a sweet smile she flung her door open – so excited she was practically shivering with anticipation. The person on the other side, however, didn't seem to share even half of her excitement. It was a man, but none of the ones she had already met. His face looked younger than the others, indicating he was probably closer to her own age range. His skin was flawless and a similar tone to hers with cheekbones that sat high on his face, adding handsome definition to his already attractive form. Stunning green eyes stared down at her, unimpressed with what he saw; his displeasure was further shown by his pursed lips that appeared glossy and pinker than one would expect a man's lips to be. Like Xirena, he also sported an unnatural – for his assumed age – hair color: white.

 

“Like, you can stop staring now.” He said in a voice that had a feminine affectation.

 

“Huh?” Xirena asked, not realizing she had been gawking at him with her mouth agape.

 

“I know you were too enchanted by my hotness to speak, girl, it's okay. I get that a lot.” He replied, “But I don't swing your way so don't get your hopes up, hon.”

 

Xirena was baffled by this guy. He talked WAY differently than the other men did, and what did he mean by “swinging” anyway? Xirena's expression had morphed from excitement to strained as he spoke, trying to figure out what he was saying.

 

“I don't... understand....” She admitted quietly.

 

“Ugh!” He groaned, sounding far more dramatic than necessary, “I KNEW this would be terrible, I just KNEW it. Just because I'm the most in touch with my feminine side here doesn't mean I would automatically get along with a girl. That was SUCH a rude assumption for that homophobic buzzkill to make... I'm going to report that to Xemnas, forcing stereotypes about gays isn't gonna fly with me honey-pie and he deserves to face the consequences for his discrimination. Like, why else would he have chosen me to come get you? He didn't have to say it blatantly but I could tell he was thinking it. 'Send Rex to get the girl! He's gay so they'll get along great!' Newsflash scar-face: it doesn't work like that. I have STANDARDS just like any other person. Ugh. The _nerve_.”

 

With his tirade at an end, he crossed his arms tightly and his face grew red from his emotional outburst. Xirena blinked and had nothing to say, he had said WAY too many words she didn't know to form a coherent thought to reply with. Thankfully he loved the sound of his own voice and continued the mostly one-sided conversation.

 

“Whatever.” He sighed sharply, “Just whatever... I'm Rexvir, but just call me Rex, uh'kay?”

 

“Oh ok.” Xirena nodded, “I'm Xirena!”

 

“ _Fascinating._ ” He sarcastically replied, his words so quick that he almost spoke over her. Rex wasn't keen on this idle chit chat and wanted to get down to business so he could get back to his life, “We're going to a meeting so you can like, meet all the others here or whatever. Not that anyone else but _me_ matters of course.”

 

“Oh.... you must be very important!” Xirena said, enchanted by his inflated sense of self worth.

 

Rex's sour expression curled up into one of smug satisfaction once she made that comment. If anyone were likely to believe Rex's lies more than Rex himself, it would be Xirena, but only because she didn't know any better. Thanks to her compliment he was having second thoughts about this dim girl.

 

“Y'know maybe you're not so bad after all...” He murmured to himself.

 

–

 

Xirena stood on the threshold of a bright white room. She could see from her point that it was circular, which seemed a little odd since all the other rooms she'd seen had been composed of flat planes and sharp angles. From within she could hear Xemnas' deep voice echoing through the round room and out into the dimly lit hall where she merely observed. She couldn't see anyone though, just a round platform in the center of the room circled by tall structures – which were also shades of white and gray of course.

 

Then, her calling came.

 

“Number IX.”

 

Xirena knew that number! It was HER number and she _remembered_ that it was hers. Her feet started moving faster than her brain, leading her entrance to be a rather ungraceful sight. She shuffled in awkwardly, coming into full view of the room and slowly looking around. The tall structures turned out to be thrones, and peculiarly they were all of different height. She already knew four of the faces in the room, but there were three others present as well. What was odder than that was that there was more than just one empty seat. Did others exist here but just were late to the meeting? Were they expecting more people after herself? Xirena had no idea, and thinking about it was a little overwhelming. Narrowly avoiding falling on her face she came to a halt in the center of the platform, sight cast upward to see her superior.

 

Xigbar, the man with the long ponytail and the eyepatch, watched on with a hidden joy. He wanted to laugh loud and hard but he knew that would arouse suspicion – which he surely could talk his way out, but he'd rather not get his time wasted by such an ordeal – so he settled for a devilish grin. Even if he did let out just a small chuckle it wouldn't be noticed, at least not enough to cause any eyebrows to be raised. But no, he remained a silent figure as he watched the initiation of Number IX.

 

 

 


	2. Color Within A Flame

**Chapter II: Color Within A Flame**

_Let's tie words_   
_'Cause they amount to nothing_   
_Play it down_   
_Pretend you can't take what you've found_   
_But you found me_

 

A flash of red sluggishly traversed the gray halls of The Castle That Never Was. If his gait – which rivaled the speed of molasses – wasn't indicative enough of of how he was feeling, a look at his long face offered further insight. Dark circles sat under vivid green eyes, and just a short distance below his badges of exhaustion were purple reverse tear drop markings on both his cheeks. His lanky frame was clad from head to toe in black – the exact same “uniform” that the other Nobodies wore. The red head walked hunched over as he headed for his room, where he planned to go right to sleep, despite it not being late at night at all.

But first, he had to report back.

This particular Nobody was “lucky” enough to get sent off on secret missions from time to time that spanned over days, weeks at worst, and that evening he has just returned from one of those extended missions. Even though he wanted to rest so badly, he knew he'd get chewed out the next morning if he didn't check back in immediately upon return – sacrificing a few moments of rest was worth it when compared to the alternative. He traveled to where the one who doled out missions could usually be found: a large lounge where an entire wall was just a huge window displaying the dark world surrounding the castle. It wasn't much of a view. In this room were several couches and low-rising tables, along with a large screen tv. When he arrived he saw a few of his coworkers lounging about as usual, but his target was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh.” He heard someone say behind him in a catty voice.

The man looked over his shoulder and he could just make our the figure of Rex sitting on a couch behind him. He was leaning towards something, or someone rather, just out of his sight though. Curious to know what the self proclaimed queen was up to, he turned fully to look at Rex, ready to go over and call him out on talking shit – because what else would Rex be doing?

To no surprise Rex was whispering in the ear of a fellow Nobody, so he DEFINITELY was talking shit, and wasn't covert about it at all. But what left him unable to move forward and tell him to shut up was who he was talking to... a new member. A girl. She was staring curiously in his direction, but not at him, it was more like she was looking through him as if he wasn't even there. This unexpected development left him frozen and speechless, all tensed up too since he was readying himself to dish out some nasty words right back to Rex.

“That one's Axel.” Rex whispered to Xirena, who blinked her widened eyes as she absorbed Rex's words like a sponge, “You can't hang out with him, he's a lazy loser asshole.”

“Oh ok.” Xirena replied, as Rex pulled away. He turned to look at Axel and smiled like the little catty bitch he was.

Rex had been going over the social structure of the Organization with her after work that evening. Rex held nothing back in his descriptors of his coworkers, trusting that the dopey Xirena could keep his secrets... or he just was banking on the probability that she would forget it all in ten minutes anyway since he had no gauge of her status as a confidant. However, after all was said and done with his social structure explanation, Xirena was left a bit confused. Being always open to asking when she didn't understand certain things, she quickly leaned in close to Rex and tugged on his sleeve with exaggerated urgency. Rex rolled his eyes.

“Stop that, you're being a pest.” He said, perhaps more brutally than he should have.

But Xirena in her social and mental ineptitude didn't register the irritated tone in his voice. She just swiftly and graciously obliged him in his request for her to stop “being a pest.” Xirena then folded her hands neatly in her lap.

“Sorry Rex! But um...” She started, trailing off and glancing away, “You said I shouldn't hang out with _anybody._ ” She finished after a moment of consideration. _Surely_ he had a reason for telling her this, but she could not figure it out to save her life. Wasn't being with others considered good and actively encouraged?

Rex sighed, his vision falling down to his hands – his nails specifically. He mentally noted that he could use a touch up on his manicure.

“Yes hon I know.” Rex replied without missing a beat, or even looking up from his womanly hands, “That's because I'm the only friend you'll ever need here. You should be thanking me, really.”

Xirena drew back out of Rex's personal space, looking back in Axel's direction yet still not noticing him. She was too trapped in the confusion that Rex had left her in to really notice anything at that point. Axel himself had been staring the whole time, trying to figure out what Rex was saying about him; and at the same time wondering just when this girl even got here, her name, all that sort of stuff. He was torn out of his daze when he heard Rex say, quite loudly...

“See? He's staring at us like a mega creeper.”

It was at that point Xirena noticed she had been looking his way too, her blank expression replaced with her usual sweet smile. With this realization, she thrust her entire arm into the air and waved it enthusiastically – as if Axel was hundreds of feet away and was trying to get his attention, rather than just give a simple “hello” gesture. Rex's mouth dropped open and he nudged Xirena roughly for disobeying his very clear instructions on socializing, causing her to immediately drop her arm, yet her smile remained. All this happening in such a short period of time startled Axel, and his feet were determined to carry him out of the situation as fast as possible – which made for a bit of a sudden, awkward exit. He quickly turned and made for the residential hall so he could get into his room, totally disregarding the ritual of checking in. But as he approached his room, “fortune” appeared to be in his favor. Walking in his direction was the stern looking man with long blue hair and glittering gold eyes, who stopped once he saw Axel heading his way.

“You've returned.” He said as Axel slowly approached him.

“Yeah, yeah.” Axel replied dismissively, “I'm back. Found nothing. Big whoop.”

He spoke quickly and tried to get into his room without doing any more talking, but blue hair wasn't having that. He blocked the path to Axel's door, eyes narrowing.

“That's all you have to report?” He said in a low, dangerous voice.

“Yes, _dad_.” Axel replied, sneering through his sarcasm. He wasn't exactly pleasant when he was tired.

“Fine then.” His counterpart replied snidely as he stepped aside, “I will pass your _great wealth_ of information onto Lord Xemnas.”

“Fantastic.” Axel answered, flatly and simply.

“Don't go thinking you're off the hook, Axel.” The other continued, “You'll be sent back again until you find it.”

Axel was beyond listening to him and merely grunted in his continued efforts to dismiss him. The man scowled at Axel and decided to take his leave – he had better things to do than bicker with the red head. Axel was quite content with their interaction ending there, but then he remembered the girl. A split second war in his mind raged on whether to keep up the conversation and ask about her, or just let it go and wait.

“...Yo, Saix.” He said, almost immediately regretting his choice and slapping himself mentally.

Saix paused and turned his head to look back at Axel, which was all the acknowledgment he was willing to give for him to go on.

“What's the story on the new girl?” Axel continued. He's gone this far, might as well follow through, right?

Now Saix was the one in regret. There was nothing worth talking about with her given what he knew. But, he relented...

“Xigbar found her a few days ago,” Saix answered simply, “Number IX. Xirena.”

Axel raised a single eyebrow but didn't dare vocally challenge him, but surely he HAD to know more... Before he could probe further, Axel thought to himself that this was good enough for now. At least he knew her name. He could live with that for now.

“Right...” Axel responded.

He knew at this point that is wasn't worth asking Saix anymore about the subject. A tense silence fell between the two scowling men, ended by a grunt from Saix as he turned and began to leave. Axel heaved a sigh of relief, it was such a hassle having the most basic of conversations with Saix at times. He spun around and leaned his back up against his door, running one of his big, clumsy hands through his spiky red locks. Axel sat there for a moment, frozen in place with his eyes closed and hand in his hair – he thought he could fall asleep right then and there.

“Hi!”

Axel jumped and his eyes flew open. Standing there in front of him was the object of his curiosity, Xirena, smiling possibly the most sweetly dopey smile he'd ever seen. When did she even get there? How much of his conversation with Saix could she have heard? How didn't he hear her approach? The more he thought about it, the less it mattered; so he did the best thing he could do and let it go. Instead, he put his limited focus on the girl in front of him, going over her visuals. Xirena was considerably shorter than himself, which wasn't a surprise considering his towering height (which was pretty unusual even among his gender). Her bright, lively eyes were a similar color to his vibrant red hair, and they also even had the color purple in common to an extent: her hair and his facial tattoos.

“Hey....” He drawled tiredly, flashing the best smile he could manage.

“You're name's Axel, right?” Xirena asked, the smile never fading from her full, pink lips. She was practically bouncing with excitement.

“Yep, it sure is.” He affirmed with a nod. He crossed his arms over his broad chest casually, “And I hear your name is Xirena?”

“Mhmm!” She hummed, nodding her head vigorously.

Her enthusiasm was a little intense for his current state of being, but she seemed nice. Harmless at the very least, and maybe even a little cute.

“I saw you with Rex...” Axel began, voice trailing off. He wasn't sure how to continue his thought though since he had nothing positive or even neutral to say about Rexvir in that very moment. With his silence lingering, Xirena took this as her cue to keep talking.

“Yeah! Rex is nice. He told me about you. He said you're a 'lazy loser asshole'” Xirena spoke enthusiastically, not realizing those words were negative ones. She certainly wasted no time in selling Rex out though, unaware that what he had said was supposed to remain between them. She then crinkled her nose in confusion and added, “…whatever that means.”

Axel's crooked smile faded.

“That's what he said, eh?” He asked dryly. Xirena nodded again.

“He also said I can't hang out with you but that's okay because you look sleepy anyway.”

What a strange thing to say. Was she being suggestive and hinting that she'd like to hang out in the future and burying it in a cute comment? No-one would listen to Rex, right? Little did he know, she was absolutely serious in what she just said, and in no way had ulterior motives hidden between the lines. It did seem like she took Rex's instructions as a one time thing that only applied to that night though, but perhaps that was the best conclusion she could come up with for herself. No matter how you looked at it, she sounded kind of absurd... and absurd as she sounded, a smile found it's way back to Axel's face, allowing a small chuckle to escape from him.

“Don't worry about it... and, don't listen to everything Rex says. Or anything he says at all, really.” He advised, “But I am tired, you're right about that. I gotta hit the hay.”

“Oh ok.” Xirena responded. She wasn't exactly sure what this phrase meant or what it had to do with being tired though.

“I'll see you around.” He said.

Xirena nodded at him and he gave her a farewell wave before turning his back to her and entering his room. It was dark, but he didn't bother to switch on the lights since he planned to go straight to bed anyway. The tall man hurried over to his bed and collapsed flat on his back, limbs sprawled out around him. His eyes immediately fell shut, but when they did Axel didn't see boring old darkness behind his eyelids, but the imprinted image of the girl he was just talking to. It wasn't all that weird to think about, since it hadn't even been thirty seconds since he saw her. Axel began to tidy up his position, raising his head to put his hands behind them.

Before Xirena, number IX, came Axel and Saix – VIII and VII respectfully. It had been quite some time since the pair had joined too, so long that the thought of someone new showing up never crossed anyone's minds anymore. On top of the initial shock, her being the first female member was jarring too. It was almost odd, in a way.

“She doesn't seem to be all there in the head but...” Axel spoke to himself, “She seems... nice. Yeah. Nice...”

Sleep began to take him as his words trailed off into silence. Once his last word was out, Axel happily surrendered to slumber.


	3. Life Illuminated

 

**Chapter III: Life Illuminated**

_You wait for a silence ****_  
_I wait for a word ****_  
_Lying next to your frame **  
**Girl unobserved_

_You change your position ****_  
 _And you're changing me ****_  
 _Casting these shadows **  
**Where they shouldn't be_

 

 

Another day rose upon the castle. Another _work_ day... but in truth, every day was a work day. Never a day off, not under the Saix regime. The gray area was about as lively as a funeral for a distant family member, and in truth, that was just how Saix liked it. Calm, quiet... almost uncomfortably so for everyone else. The man himself stood in front of the wide window, looking down at his clipboard as Axel stood in front of him. Saix's usually dulled expression had started to shift into a look he isn't often seen wearing, surely not publicly anyway – who knows what kind of faces he pulled when scheming off on his own. He smiled devilishly as he looked up at Axel, who didn't find the same amusement that Saix had.

“Something funny?” Axel asked, crossing his arms casually. Saix huffed.

“You're going with the new one today.” He sneered.

Axel's emerald eyes narrowed with confusion; he failed to see what was so funny about that, but then again Saix wasn't a master comedian so there was probably some kind of malicious intent behind that smug grin. He saw Saix's eyes flick over his shoulder – his smile slowly vanishing once he spotted what had grabbed his attention. Axel half turned and saw that Xirena, accompanied by Rex, had entered the gray area. Well, she seemed to be following him in all truthfulness... Though it wasn't clear what he was saying due to how far away Axel was from them, Rex was chatting endlessly. His mouth wouldn't stop moving even for one second, not giving a chance for Xirena to speak at all. Strangely enough, she didn't seem bothered – In fact she had a look of captivation on her face the whole time Rex spoke. Every so often she would nod her head, or even laugh a tiny bit, but it was clear she had no weight in the “conversation.” Going with Xirena was Saix's idea of a joke apparently.

Without thinking, Axel fully turned and started striding over towards them. He had to tell her they'd be together that day, and someone had to rescue her from Rex's incessant babbling – and he was in the perfect position to do just that.

“Yo!” He said brightly when he reached them. 

“Um, excuse me?” Rex snapped venomously, quickly dropping out of what he had been previously talking about to address Axel, “I believe _I_ was talking, and when _I_ talk-” 

“Hi Axel!” Xirena cut him off, which no-one anticipated.

Rex's hand flew to his chest dramatically and his face had _the most_ scandalized expression you could imagine painted on it. Being talked over isn't fun, true, but Rex always has to make such a fuss about the most minor things. You could even say he deserved it based on how he himself speaks rudely at times. In the moment of silence that followed he saw fit to make his displeasure known properly. With mouth agape and a dainty hand raised, ready to accent every word he said as he spoke with it, he turned to Xirena. 

“Hon. I was speaking. And I do _not_ appreciate being inter-” 

“Hey.” Axel greeted back. His disregard for Rex was only half deliberate, as he had mostly shifted his focus to Xirena at this point, “Good morning.”

“I've had enough.” Rex huffed under his breath, storming away from Axel and Xirena while loudly complaining about how he was being _so_ disrespected just then. No-one seemed to notice him though... 

“Yeah... I guess it's a good one.” Xirena replied, clearly unsure of herself. 

Axel raised an eyebrow, considering what exactly he wanted to say back to that. Did she really not know what “good morning” meant? He looked away from her, unable to hold his gaze on her as he searched for a means to explain it. 

“I... wasn't literally saying that the morning was good, really.” He responded awkwardly, eyes traveling everywhere but back to her. It wasn't that it was especially difficult, per se, but it was such an unexpected reaction that it caught him completely off-guard. Soon enough though, he focused himself and looked at her straight once more, speaking with confidence, “It's what people say to greet each other in the morning.” 

“Oh...” Xirena said quietly. 

“No-one's said good morning to you before...?” Axel probed incredulously. 

“No, not really.” Xirena admitted, shaking her head from side to side, “Rex never says stuff like that. He just starts talking about himself right away.” 

“Hmm. No surprise there.” He muttered. Axel quickly shook his head, as if to rid himself of the thought, “Ehh try not to worry about it though... Rex is... unique.”

“Oh ok!” Xirena responded happily. 

“Yeah... Uh, anyway, Xirena... You're with me for work today.” Axel said, having decided it was time to get down to business at that point. Xirena nodded her head, the thought of going to work not dampening her spirits at all.

 

* * *

 

 

“Where are we going?” Xirena asked from behind Axel.

The pair was traveling through a Dark Corridor with Axel leading the way, but Xirena stayed a mere few steps behind at all times. Axel glanced back at her.

“Agrabah.” He answered shortly, “Not a great place. Too hot if you ask me.”

Xirena hummed softly in response. He said these things to her as if she was supposed to know what they meant, similar to the “good morning” talk they had minutes earlier. Xirena had noticed one thing about Axel that stood out though: he was nicer than anyone else she'd met so far. Possibly the nicest, which says something about the company she keeps – Rex was too in love with himself to care even an ounce for anyone else, no less a girl, and all the other members seemed rather business oriented or aloof. But Axel was different, he was the first one to really talk to her... even if just a little bit. Xemnas was never around, Xigbar kept to himself a lot of the time, Rex was Rex, Vexen was always preoccupied with his scientific studies, Zexion always had his nose in a book and Saix never seems to speak unless it's business talk. Axel though, he felt far more approachable than the others – despite their interactions being limited to what they were at the present time.

Still, it made her feel happy.

“So!” Axel exclaimed, grabbing Xirena's attention abruptly, “Where'd you come from, Xirena? Saix wasn't feeling too talkative when I asked him about you the other night.”

“You asked him about me?” Xirena asked, voice soft and airy, unintentionally disregarding his question. 

“Yeah... I figured if anyone had the scoop on a new member it'd be him, y'know?” He continued. 

“Oh ok.” She responded, continuing to ignore his initial subject. 

“So...” Axel repeated, “Where did a girl like you call home?” 

Xirena furrowed her brow, puzzled by his question. The castle was her home, wasn't it? And as far as she knew it was Axel's home too, so there wasn't really room for misunderstanding about their living arrangements. Xirena's eyes glazed over in thought, her pace slowing down as she wracked her brain to find an answer for him. She had gotten so lost in herself that she didn't notice Axel had stopped and turned around right in front of her, until she bumped right into him. Her downcast face had collided with his chest – he was astoundingly tall, especially in comparison to Xirena – but she bounced back, quickly taking a step away from him. He looked down at her, eyes narrowed as he studied her expression. Her face gave away her building anxiety over this one simple question, and it didn't take the red head long to figure out what was wrong. He leaned in towards her a bit – so he could be as eye-to-eye as reasonably possible – and crossed his arms. 

“You don't remember anything, do you?” He asked, sounding almost amused. Xirena shook her head, sending her violet hair bobbing around her face, which had grown red at this point, “Well, that's one detail Saix _conveniently_ left out...” He added, speaking less audibly. 

Axel straightened out his towering posture again and dropped his arms back to his sides. He could tell, just by the look of her in that very moment, that this girl would be hopelessly lost without some degree of guidance. And as a supreme gentleman Axel just couldn't allow that happen! He extended one of his hands and clapped it onto her shoulder. 

“Try not to worry about it right now. We'll save the personal chit-chat for after work, yeah?” He said reassuringly. 

* * *

 

The dry air and sand-covered land of Agrabah was a jarring change from the comfort of the dark corridor they had just emerged from. Axel easily knew what to expect, as he'd been there many times before, but this was Xirena's first tour of the sunbathed desert world. The searing heat was made even worse by their uniforms... thick, black, long coats aren't ideal for hot weather. As soon as they stepped out Xirena's mouth fell open followed by the tip of her tongue sliding out too, exhaling deeply – the heat affecting her immediately and sending her into a daze – she almost looked like a dog. 

“So, whattaya think?” Axel asked. He suppressed a laugh, seeing as Xirena's thoughts on Agrabah were on full display on her face. 

“Too... hot...” She panted in response. 

“You'll get used to it.” Allowing his light laughter to slip out with his reply. 

Behind the unsuspecting Xirena, a speck of black appeared and was moving flat against the ground. Axel didn't really take notice of it, until it rose up off the ground into a small black creature with bright yellow eyes and antennae. Axel saw it moving closer, clumsy yet speedy, and he had to act fast. Without putting too much thought into it, he pushed Xirena aside and stepped forward to face off with the shadow. It had jumped, ready to pounce on Xirena, and it certainly did not expect it's target to move; and before it had a chance to touch down on the sand, the sound of snapped fingers and the roar of fire filled the air. It didn't last long at all, and the creature made no sound of agony as it's body burst into flames. The strange creature left no trace behind once the flame fizzled out. Axel was holding his arm out straight in front of him, he being the one who summoned the fire with the snap of his fingers. Once the threat was gone he dropped his arm. 

“Owch...” 

Axel's head snapped to the left where Xirena was seated on the ground. In her heat-stricken daze she couldn't keep her balance after the push from Axel, she wasn't exactly super concerned with her fall though – what she had just seen was way more important to inquire about – What was that thing? And how did Axel do that...? 

“Oh damn, I'm sorry!” Axel quickly apologized, hurrying over to her and offering a hand to help her up once he realized what he had done, “I didn't mean to knock you over.” 

“What was that thingy?” She inquired. 

Xirena reached up for his hand and he grabbed her, lifting her up with no effort given his strength. Back on her feet, Xirena took her hand back as she examined herself. The fall may not have explicitly bothered her, but being all dirtied up was something of note to her now that she was back on her feet. She frowned at the sand that was still clinging to her dark coat and started her best efforts to shake and pat it all off. Axel didn't know how to help, so he just stood there awkwardly while watching the girl he just shoved over clean herself up. Her words from just moments ago rang back in head though, and answering her question would be better than just nothing. 

“That was a Heartless.” He began. 

Xirena had gotten most of the sand off herself now and put her efforts to tidy up to rest, satisfied with her results. 

“A Heartless?” Xirena asked, looking up to him. 

“Yep.” He nodded, “They're creatures of darkness that steal the hearts of the living. And when a person loses their heart...” 

Axel's voice trailed off, looking off to the side at nothing in particular. Just away. In his silence, Xirena tilted her head curiously at him, an action that Axel would grow to be familiar with. She started to learn in the direction of his averted gaze, slowly creeping straight through his peripheral vision to directly in front of him again, or as close as she could get by leaning over. Axel hadn't been paying attention to what was going on around him and hadn't fully noticed Xirena peering up from under her violet bangs at him. 

“Axel?” She asked. 

Axel focused again, blinking a few times as if to banish that glazed over expression from his face. 

“Heh, sorry about that. Guess I kinda zoned out there, huh?” He spoke, his tone light hearted despite his previous statement about those “Heartless” things... 

“Oh ok.” Xirena responded. 

With their conversation dried up, the reality of their heated surroundings set in once more. Sweat was beading up on both of their faces, with Xirena's free-flowing strands of hair sticking to the side of her face when they touched. The heat of course wasn't letting up, and Axel was certain that the sun had fried his brain, because he could not for the life of him remember one very important fact. 

“Eheh, funny story...” He began, a little sheepish over what he was about to say, “Saix never got to tell me what _exactly_ we were supposed to _do_ here today...”

With his awkward admission, a stale silence fell over the pair. Axel quickly looked away from her wide-eyed gaze, running his large hand through his hair and scratching at the back of his head while he tried to find a way to recover from this. The stare of Xirena made the situation painfully pressing. 

Then, something came to him... He whipped his head back to look at her confidently, dropping his hand and resting it on his hip. 

“I've got an idea of what we can do...” He said with a smile that was hard to decipher. Xirena's face faintly twitched to express her heightened curiosity and Axel obliged her by offering a glowing assurance, “Trust me, it'll be a lot funner than schleppin' around this place. I promise.” 

* * *

 

Xirena stood back as Axel was chatting with some man she didn't know behind a kiosk. They had gone somewhere cooler, much cooler, but not frigidly cold either. The temperature was what you might call “just right,” with the streets empty and quiet... but in a pleasant, peaceful way – not a creepy way. This place was bathed in the warm light of a setting sun, but the buildings in the town square area where they stood were too tall to point out exactly where the sun was. Xirena held her hands down and clasped together, rocking back and forth on her heels as she took in her surroundings. 

“Hey.”

Xirena looked forward, only to be surprised by a bright blue object held right in front of her face.

“What's this?” Xirena asked, peering to the side of it to see Axel – who was holding another one in his other hand. 

“Sea salt ice cream.” He said, “I figured ice cream would be a good idea after Agrabah. And to say “sorry” again for pushing you around.” 

As he spoke, Xirena wordlessly took the ice cream from him. She didn't examine it for too long before taking the plunge and just taking a huge bite out of it without a second thought. The intense, sudden coldness shocked her mouth and made her teeth ache for a second; until the chunk of frozen confection rapidly melted away, a salty aftertaste present when most of the sweetness had faded. She had grimaced when she bit into it with her eager but inappropriate haste, leading to the unpleasant cold sensation.

“No good?” Axel asked.

He had studied her face as she tried it and worried that he screwed up his act of generosity when he saw her displeased face. He was suddenly nervous, but didn't want to have it be apparent in his features or voice. However, his nerves were relieved when her sour face disappeared as she shook her head. Surely this was good, yeah?

“No... it tastes really good!” She said. Axel could now say he was completely relieved.

“Yeah, it's my favorite flavor.” He mentioned before adding in some solid advice to the girl, “Just don't try and eat it so fast like that. Got it memorized?”

Xirena nodded, already having taken a bite – a more appropriate one – once more, which left her unable to gracefully speak a response. But now what? There wasn't anywhere to sit and relax nearby, and standing around eating looked a little awkward. Axel mentally scanned a map of the town in his head – he was familiar enough with this place by now to know it like the back of his hand. He came to a solid idea, although he wasn't certain it was able to be... executed.

“Yo, come with me.” He said, motioning for Xirena to follow him.

* * *

 

“Ahhh, yes I _am a genius_!” Axel celebrated.

His idea was on the daring side, which made the success feel all the more sweeter. He had thought, what would be the ideal place to really enjoy the view of Twilight Town? The town square was so enclosed, same for the sandlot – which had even less happening in it than the square – then there were the alleys... the hill seemed attractive, but there wasn't really great seating options there, plus it didn't offer a _great_ view of much of anything. No, nothing could beat where he took himself and Xirena. See, there was a tram station in Twilight Town, which laid at the base of a clock tower. This clock tower oversaw the entirety of Twilight Town, and gave viewers a decent look at the red gold horizon where the sun permanently sat. He wasn't sure how accessible this place was, since it seemed like a bunch of terrible accidents waiting to happen... but there was no barriers or signs of any sort to deter any brave individuals who wanted to climb the tower and test their fear against the heights.

Xirena stood beside the cheerful ginger, smiling along with him. His personal glee was a bit infectious and spread through Xirena. He suddenly “disappeared” from her side view, but looking downwards quickly revealed that he had just taken a seat on the short ledge – perhaps too quickly than one should when atop such a high structure. Xirena followed suit, taking a much safer approach to sitting down than her mission partner. She sat beside him, not too close though. 

“Check out that view, eh?” He said, nudging Xirena softly with his elbow, “Man, I'd thought about hanging out up here a few times but never really followed through...”

“I've never seen such a pretty sky!” Xirena marveled, eyes forward on the horizon. Even as she ate, the focus of her view remained on the setting sun.

“Alright, so...” Axel began, his tone grabbing Xirena's attention away from the sunset, “The way I see it, I was just supposed to casually show you the ropes in Agrabah... but who says we had to do it there? No-one's really told you what we do here, have they?”

“...No!” Xirena exclaimed, not with a tone of disdain, but excitement. The happiness that had permeated was thriving strong in her and had her hyped.

“Right! So, I'll “show you the ropes” by talking you through what the Organization does... Makes sense, right? Right,” He went on, “And I'm curious to see what you _do_ remember of life before the Organization.”

“Oh ok!” Xirena nodded vigorously.

She was eager to learn and could barely contain her excitement. She rocked slightly from side to side while Axel did some mental preparation to make sure he structured his explanation in the best way possible. That feeling she had earlier in the Dark Corridor returned to her, melting through her slowly and encompassing her in it's warmth. The happiness she felt that day was the most remarkable thing she had felt in her short life so far, and it fully captured her thoughts as they sat there on the tower. A guttural noise jolted her out of her emotional daze, it was the sound of Axel clearing his throat – symbolizing his readiness to begin his lecture. Xirena licked her lips with a look of determination on her face, as if she were _preparing_ herself to listen intently – getting her mind ready to absorb what he had to say. Would it work? Only time would tell...

 


	4. Spark The Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello. Long time, no update. This chapter took forever for various reasons... Sorry 'bout that folks. Then I had to do some extensive editing of the entire story notes, which I might still have to keep doing. HOPEFULLY chapter 5 doesn't take as long, but anything could happen.mp3 Enjoy, homies.

 

**Chapter IV: Spark The Soul**

_We'll take a long walk, down the alleys of these houses_ __  
_And we'll talk, see what conversation rouses when we're alone,_ _  
__When we're alone, it could be home_

 

_Right. So, I'll try to keep it simple, but I'm not gonna lie to ya – it gets a little sticky at some points. Know what I mean? ...Xirena, what you and I are, we're Nobodies... And a Nobody is a being without a heart. Just a body and a mind. Remember those Heartless things I mentioned? When one of them steals a person's heart, they split into a Heartless and a Nobody. Heartless hold the hearts they steal within them... so, really our names are kind of backwards. Anyways, normal folk just turn into your run-of-the-mill dusk or something, but people with exceptionally strong hearts become Nobodies like us – ones that look and function like humans. Just without hearts, without emotions. And strong Nobodies like us have been rounded up by Xemnas to form our Organization... we have a goal, or rather Xemnas does really, but we can't exactly work on it directly right now. We need someone who can free the captive hearts within the Heartless, and that requires a special weapon. It's called a key-something-or-other, I don't know, it's not important. Anyway what it boils down to is by freeing the hearts within the Heartless, they'll form together and create something called Kingdom Hearts. And then..._

_And then?_

_Well. We only have his word to go by, but according to Xemnas by forming Kingdom Hearts, we will have hearts of our own once more._

* * *

 

“Are you listening, child?” A nasally voice snapped.

Xirena yelped, being smacked in the back of the head while she was verbally scolded. In all fairness, she wasn't listening, she was thinking about the night she had the day before.

“Sorry Mr. Vexen!” She quickly apologized, raising a hand to the back of her head and massaging the spot where he struck her. The wild-eyed, blonde scientist looked down on her with disdain, and Xirena shrunk into herself while averting her eyes in shame.

“Don't apologize, just pay attention.” He instructed coldly.

A soft whimper escaped from Xirena as she straightened herself out. The tall man turned his back to her once more, intent on finishing what he started. You see, Vexen was tasked with teaching her how to use magic for combative purposes – given the nature of their “job” in the Organization, having skills in battle was a strict requirement – for their work, but also their own survival. In the past, those he taught had picked it up easily, but Xirena wasn't exactly a quick study. Although if she just put an _iota_ of effort into focusing on the task at hand, she could have made more progress than she had, but her mind kept wandering to other things. Things that were more fun to think about. Like Axel. And ice cream.

She could still recall the sweet taste of the ice cream as it melted on her tongue, quickly adding a salty flavor too. But the ice cream was hardly the most important thing... What he had told her were pretty heavy. She was confused over the “no heart” thing... if they couldn't feel emotions, why did she... feel? She may not have known any better but she sure felt full of all sorts of emotions the whole time she'd been at the castle. Just thinking about it made her head ache with confusion – a totally legit emotion, right? How could it not be real? She had questions that she wanted to ask Axel, but they didn't have the time and now today she wasn't sure how long she'd be at work trying to learn magic. Xirena is always excited and willing to learn new things – even if the attempt is unsuccessful it was always fun – but her thoughts wandering to Axel kept her distracted from the important lesson on magic.

_We should head back now really._

_Oh ok._

_...Hey, if you're not busy why don't you meet me here tomorrow after work again? We can chat more. If not, that's cool too. Up to you._

A smile swiftly crept across Xirena's face when she remembered that. She felt a strange amount of excitement over getting to just hang out and talk with Axel – she did that with Rex plenty, yet somehow it was different with Axel.

“And THIS is how you cast a basic fire spell!”

Vexen's loud voice grabbed Xirena again, after she zoned out... _again_. She saw a small flame erupt after Vexen swung his arm out in front of him onto a target dummy they had set up for the exercise. Once the flames faded away, the charred but still intact dummy was exposed. It was burned beyond recognition, but it didn't completely disappear... This all brought Xirena back to the moment where Axel had done the same thing in Agrabah, or at least... something similar. Somehow there seemed to be a difference in how Axel and Vexen handled fire. Vexen looked back to Xirena, who appeared just attentive enough to appease him. He was also just exhausted at this point by trying to teach her, someone he thought was a hopeless dimwit but still _had_ to tutor. While everyone recognized Vexen's academic strengths, Vexen wouldn't allow anyone else to teach even if they wanted to. If someone was to be teaching, they should be learning from the best to receive the optimal learning experience. He simply would not stand for anyone else but him to take the position, he was too proud of his _supposed_ superior intellect.

“Oh ok, cool!” Xirena exclaimed after a delay.

She raised up her hands and began to clap at the marvelous display, a look of wonder on her face. Vexen's eyes narrowed – he did not find this action endearing at all, in fact he found it completely intolerable. With remarkable speed, he thrust one hand out and grabbed both of hers while they were close together, pinning them shut in his tight grip and effectively silencing her clapping. Xirena retained the look of awe she had on her face the whole time she clapped – Vexen's boiling irritation with her was lost on the purple haired girl.

“You can leave _now_.” Vexen murmured, accentuating the final word of that sentence.

Xirena nodded and Vexen released her small hands. Once free, Xirena ran out of his lab with intense enthusiasm. She smiled broadly as she moved quickly through the castle. The steps she took were thoughtlessly careless, and the swing of her arms was broad and probably dangerous to anyone who would get in her way. But she wasn't concerned with that. Her feet carried her to the Gray Area where she excitedly looked around, but after a moment of keen observation, she realized that her target wasn't there. However, this did not put an end to her personal journey. Before she could move on, she spotted Rex waving to grab her attention from one of the couches, where he sat with legs crossed daintily.

“HON. Get over here! I haven't seen you since, like, yesterday morni-”

Rex's words were cut short by Xirena turning on her heel and running out without having taken Rex into consideration at all. Rex's jaw fell open – who was SHE to ignore him? With no reason even! He huffed loudly and crossed his arms tightly. Once he was over the initial shock of this “rejection” he started working his mind to try and figure out just what on earth she could even be doing instead of hanging out with him. Nothing came to mind.

* * *

 

Xirena's breath was heavy as she jogged up the stairs leading to the top of the tower in Twilight Town. Careful not to recklessly run now, she found a safe enough pace that would deliver herself to the top as soon as possible. Reaching the peak, she carefully rounded the corner to where she sat with Axel just the night before. The few seconds that it took for her to completely round the sharp corner and see the one-time hang out spot suddenly felt like eternity. Through the seemingly slowed time, Xirena's excited smile started to sink into utter disappointment.

Axel wasn't there.

Time resumed it's normal pace once the absence of the red head fully sunk in. Almost in time with her expression, Xirena's entire body sank into itself, assuming a posture of defeat.

“Oh... ok...” She murmured, voice full of sadness.

Xirena took in the view of the setting sun before preparing to depart, though the beautiful setting sun did nothing to lift her heavy heart. She took a step back, pivoting slowly with her head trailing behind the rest of her body as she craved to see every last bit of the golden sky of Twilight Town. When she could contort herself no further, Xirena whipped her head forward, only to be greeted by a strange wall of blackness. That certainly wasn't there before, and the sudden change of scenery left Xirena stunned and frozen.

“Up here.” A familiar voice teased.

Xirena slowly raised her head – her red eyes meeting bright green ones above her. Standing just an inch away from her with an amused grin on his face was none other than Axel. Xirena stared up at him, mouth having fallen open in pure wonderment.

“...Oh hi!” She greeted brightly, after a pause of just staring. She tilted her head to the side and continued, “When did you get here?”

“I saw you heading up here so I decided to hang back a little and sneak up on ya.” He explained, his voice taking on a sarcastic tone when he spoke again, “Didn't scare ya much though, did I?”

“No, not really.” Xirena answered honestly with a steady shake of her head.

Axel scoffed lightly, darkly amused by her truthful words. He stepped around her, moving casually towards where he had sat just the night prior, taking his seat once again. Ghosting behind him, Xirena followed with light steps, plopping delicately down next to Axel on the ledge.

Feeling her presence next to him, Axel started chewing on the inside of his cheek, yet he chose to keep his eyes forward to the horizon. After a brief moment, his jaw relaxed. That cheek chewing was a bit of a bad habit.

“Y'know...” Axel spoke, grabbing Xirena's attention, “To be honest, I wasn't sure if you'd show up today.”

Xirena had turned her head to face Axel, furrowing her brow so hard that she was in danger of breaking her nose.

“But you told me to!” Xirena countered honestly. Her brow to slowly started to relax, and Axel choked up. He wasn't quite expecting that.

“You make me sound like some sort of control freak weirdo when you put it _that_ way.” Axel replied. He was beginning to worry that he started to sound like a creep... Not the best impression to make, so he calmly searched his brain for something better to say, “It was more of a... suggestion. Yeah, suggestion sounds better.”

“Oh ok.” The agreeable Xirena responded, “It still sounds the same to me though!”

“Right...” Axel murmured, feeling his short-lived recovery dissipate, “But seriously, you barely know me, but you met me here again without any hesitation!”

“Yeah!” She replied enthusiastically.

“Xirena, you're missing the point.” He said frankly, “How'd ya know I wouldn't turn out to be some psycho killer who lures victims up here to murder them? Or that I wasn't a creepy pervert looking to prey on some young, innocent thing that doesn't know any better?”

Axel paused to allow his statements to sink in, but judging by the unchanged dumb smile on Xirena's face, his lecturing 'sank in' just about as good as jello on a ceramic plate. He groaned audibly.

“ _What I'm saying_ is you can't go around trusting just ANYONE without question... You're a disaster waiting to happen.” He explained, “A life without fear is a reckless life. Got it memorized?”

“I think so...” She half lied, “But what exactly is 'trust' ?”

This question was an unexpected addition to their chat.

“Well it's... having a strong belief in the reliability and truth of someone... or something. Having confidence in someone is to trust them.” He explained shakily. A look of understanding slowly came across Xirena's face, which prompted Axel to continue, “It's kind of involved in human emotion stuff, so actually it's not really THAT important to us Nobodies.”

Xirena exhaled heavily. This whole thing about them not having emotions or hearts, and Axel ending his explanation with a direct contradiction to things he said just moments earlier, left her mentally exhausted.

“I don't really understand...We don't have hearts or emotions...” She began softly, then the passion in her voice suddenly spiked, “But, I'm pretty sure I've been feeling plenty of stuff!”

Now that was an interesting declaration. The intensity of Xirena's last comment had caught Axel's full attention. Among the chorus of emotional naysayers that was the Organization, one small voice has popped up to challenge them. Axel's hand glided upwards to his face, where he started to stroke his chin with curiosity.

“Is that so...” The curious Axel murmured, “Care to explain?”

Xirena looked down at her lap as an inquisitive smile grew on Axel's face, like the moon finally appearing from behind the clouds on a gloomy night. Xirena scratched at her cheek lightly with her index finger as she thought. Once she was sure she recalled the most important or just memorable instances, she allowed her hand to fall softly back to her lap, and raised her head back up.

“Well... When I first got here I was really nervous, and then I was excited to meet Rex, and then I was scared of Vexen, and yesterday, I was really happy just hanging out up here with you!”

“Heh.” He chuckled to himself, feeling his ego grow just a tiny bit for a second. This fleeting moment passed leading Axel back to the cold truth of their emotionless reality. His smile faded. He was always quick to talk himself back down on this topic, “Well, girlie, I hate to rain on your parade and all... but all that stuff you just said? Those things you felt weren't real. All fake.”

Xirena's expression fell into disappointment, with a smidge of befuddlement. Her posture sank as well, caving into herself and making her look even smaller. Axel observed her crestfallen pose. This sad sight was too awkward and he suddenly felt the need to try and console the poor creature, but in her mopey world, Xirena was even less aware of herself and everything around her than usual. Thus, she didn't see nor anticipate the sudden impact she felt strike from behind. She let out a high pitched gasp as her head snapped up and over to Axel – he had clapped his hand on her shoulder as a gesture of reassurance.

“Listen, try not to think about that whole 'no heart or emotions' stuff,” He began, looking into her vibrant eyes, “It makes living a whole lot easier for us... Got it memorized?”

“...Oh ok.” Xirena replied, breath heavy from being startled by him.

The duo held their stare even after silence had taken over – the only sound being the high altitude wind blowing gently in their ears. While Xirena's eyes were almost eternally wide, Axel's were relaxed – narrowed, but still soft enough to convey a casual mood. After a moment, a sigh was heard from Axel, who smiled and turned away; he lazily pulled his hand back along with him.

“Heh, I just realized something... I should have gotten some ice cream before heading up here.” He spoke. Xirena's eyes lit up.

“Oh, oh ice cream would have been great!” Xirena agreed excitedly, drawing a laugh out of Axel.

“Well who said I'd buy any for _you_?!” He exclaimed jokingly, laughing loudly at his own “joke.”

Xirena, however, didn't see the humor and was rendered totally speechless and frozen, save for a quick and subtle tremble. It sure sounded like he was scolding her, and this disturbed Xirena's fragile state of being. Axel found this amusing, but tried to stop his unnecessarily raucous laughter since he could tell she was legitimately upset. Forcing himself to stop eventually lead to his laughing ceasing naturally – just needed a little push to get things straight again. Axel looked over to Xirena, seeing her watching him with a look of ghastly dread – so absurdly over the top that it almost sent him into another laughing fit. Even Axel has some good in him sometimes, and it was summoned in that moment because he couldn't let this poor girl go on thinking he really yelled at her.

“Xirena, I'm just messing with you!” He assured her.

Xirena heaved a huge sigh. She felt like she could faint from all the emotional energy she had expended in her state of dismay and despair. However, his affirmation immediately eased her soul. Axel boldly reached out and pet the girl on the head, ruffling up her hair a bit as he did so. Xirena couldn't help but giggle softly, almost inaudibly, as Axel pat her head. Something about seeing her goofy smile struck a chord inside the redhead, evident by the similar smile that had spread to his face too – a smile he didn't even notice. He slowly started to take his hand back – but instead of simply retracting it, his hand traveled from the top of her head and slid down the side with his fingers running through her hair. He wasn't close enough to have caressed her face or anything, but once his fingers were free from her purple locks, the realization of how... intimate that action was – _especially_ considering how he hadn't known Xirena for very long. He abruptly jerked his hand back towards him, having realized the weight of his actions. Axel's hand flew to the back of his head as he twisted his body to face forward again, scratching at it as he did so. Xirena thankfully – for Axel anyway – didn't understand his sudden change in demeanor. She merely tilted her head in confusion, as she often found herself doing.

“Axel?” Xirena asked.

Axel dropped his hand heavily and exhaled deeply; he cleared his throat before choosing to speak again.

“It's nothing... I just had a really bad itch is all.” He lied, with absolutely zero confidence in his voice.

“Oh ok.” Xirena replied, turning and facing forward again as well.

She was satisfied with his answer – despite it being weak... well, anyone else but Xirena would surely be able to tell it wasn't the exact truth and he'd end up being interrogated until the truth got dragged out of him. In that moment Axel was quite thankful that Xirena was... well, the way she was. Axel shook his head rapidly, trying to rid his mind of the creepy thing he had just done. He even shook out his hand a bit to try and remove any lingering personal embarrassment associated with it.

* * *

 

Coming home to the castle for Xirena was like returning home to an angry spouse. With arms crossed and foot tapping the floor of the gray area impatiently, Rex stood near the hallway entrance, waiting for his pet project to return. His foot struck the floor so hard it threatened to crack. When she appeared following Axel, Rex began to shake his head disapprovingly.

“I swear to Zayn...” He muttered bitterly, seeing how his friend was associating with someone that WASN'T him!

Xirena noticed him and waved enthusiastically at Rex. Rex, being in his own self absorbed world, thought that she was “pretending like nothing was wrong” – as if she had any idea about his delusional thoughts to begin with. With no idea about his annoyance, Xirena happily jogged over to the silver haired Nobody, visibly pleased to see him.

“Hiya Rex!” She says, stopping in front of him.

“Two nights now? Seriously?” He snapped. He didn't bother with pleasantries.

“Huh?” She asked, still smiling.

Rex could see Axel approaching them over Xirena's shoulder, which only irritated Rex further. He quickly grabbed Xirena and pulled her close.

“WHY are you hanging out with HIM?” He aggressively whispers to the clueless girl. He releases her with a light shove to get her out of his personal space, leading to Xirena stumbling a bit. Now willing to talk in a more audible tone, he continued, “I thought I TOLD you not to.”

“Oh...” Xirena breathed, “Sorry Rex. But, Axel's really nice! I like him!”

Just as the last words escaped her mouth, one of Rex's arms flew up and put a finger up to her lips – to silence her... even though she had already said all she wanted to say. Rex couldn't let what he said next go interrupted _at all._

“I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that hon.” He sharply says as his nostrils flare, “Being friends with a loser leads to you becoming a loser by association, and I have a reputation to keep up – I can NOT be seen with a loser. Sorry not sorry.”

“Oh ok.” She replied once Rex removed his hand from her face but she didn't really understand what he was going on about. It was too technical sounding for her to properly grasp.

“Seriously hon you got better things to do than follow his big, lumbering ass around.”

“Yeah, standing right here y'know.” Axel said from behind Xirena.

While the Swift Brawler was ranting and raving, Axel had reached the two and stood casually behind Xirena. Rex completely ignored the red head though, beckoning for Xirena to follow him. Rex began sashaying towards his room, yet Xirena was glued to her spot. With her back to him, Axel couldn't tell what was up with her – no expression to read or anything. Xirena, however, was fighting a war inside her mind. She of course liked chilling out with Rex, but she was eager to spend time with her newest acquaintance too. In her own words, Xirena could tell that Axel had different things to offer her than Rex did. However, she felt she had some sort of obligation to go with Rex that evening... perhaps it was his commanding nature. No. Yeah. It was totally his commanding nature. With all this in mind, she slowly turned in place and looked up at Axel.

“I gotta go with Rex now.” She said, with a small trace of regret, or perhaps guilt,“Bye bye.”

“Woah, hold on a sec!” He said to keep her in place, “Tomorrow, after work, same place?”

Xirena stared at him blankly.

“Huh?” She asked. Axel sighed.

“Wanna meet at the clock tower after work again tomorrow?” He clarified.

“Oh! Oh ok, yeah!” She responded gleefully.

An irritated shriek rang out from Rex and echoed down the hall, calling Xirena's name and telling her to hurry up. The frenzied Xirena squeaked as the shrill command pierced her ears; she clumsily turned and started jogging after Rex. Axel smiled – perhaps more devilishly than he intended – as he watched Xirena from behind, getting farther and farther away with each delicate step; her light gait made it look as if she was walking on air. The pair of Rex and Xirena soon disappeared into the fabulous one's room to do god knows what... whatever girls do, like painting their nails and read Tiger Beat is what Axel assumed.

Yet for some reason...

A twinge of something... a brief flare of bittersweet thoughts as she ran away. Just like Xirena had said she enjoyed her time with him, Axel – if asked – would say the same for her.

 

 

 

 


	5. Shadow Aspect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, finally! If you want to have more frequent status updates on how things are moving along AND art of characters in this story, plus plenty that aren't featured, head over to my facebook page and "like" it please! Some of the art is exclusive to that page, not found on deviantart or tumblr! Here is the link https://www.facebook.com/shinseikakumeiART

 

**Chapter V: Shadow Aspect**

 

The sun also rises, ****  
On those who fail to call ****  
My life, it comprises, **  
**Of losses and wins and fails and falls

 

* * *

 

 

_I've been observing the new member, Number IX. The way she looks reminded me of someone from years ago – someone I only ever saw in passing, walking the roads of Radiant Garden. Never even knew her name. I'd seen her heading towards the castle sometimes, which baffles me to this day. What business would a child have at the castle? Surely she wasn't a credible enough person to be allowed entrance, but that is something I am sure I'll never know. The more I think about it, it both continues to add up yet fall apart at the same time. Purple hair, red eyes and fair skin. If she lost her heart recently her age would be accurate, she couldn't have been much older than 10 or 11. The only thing is the difference in personality. The few times I saw more of that girl than just a glance on the street, she carried herself with contrived dignity for her age, but still was sharp in the mind – as well as a young girl could be I suppose. She looked like she tried to act more mature than she was, but she was by no means stupid. She of course carried the same follies any child her age would, but like I said... such a polarizing difference is bizarre. Xirena is an idiot, plain and simple, she is surely less mature than the one I knew. Rexvir has taken to her, but it seems he treats her more like an underling than a friend and Xigbar enjoys picking on her if she happens to cross his path. He played that “got your nose” trick on her and she chased him for an hour on the verge of tears trying to get her nose back. How could someone be so dim? And as for Axel, he seems to like her too. It doesn't matter – as long as he keeps his focus. He always got bored of new toys rather quickly, so I'm not concerned about him taking some time to play with her... Part of me thinks her behavior is an act to get the members to endear to her, but her behavior doesn't offer wide appeal. I don't find her enjoyable to be around in the slightest, and I relish in the quiet of her absence. Despite all this, it's impossible to ignore the similarities..._

 

* * *

 

 

Wildly colored animals and fantastic flora decorated the aptly named Lotus Forest in the world of Wonderland. A variety of exotic creatures could be seen within the forest, all with unique calls that resonated almost like a rhythm. This world was easily the most beautiful that Xirena had seen so far in her short life; the vibrant visuals had enraptured her in a whirlwind of girlish giddiness. The songs of the birds made her want to sway and dash around, but even she knew better... She made no attempt to mask her simple happiness as she walked along with her mission partner for the day: Zexion. He had only heard of what she was like from others and never spent a mission with her yet, so he was sure she would discard her distractions when he asked her – because that's what he would do, although he wouldn't be distracted from his objective in the first place, so it's not much more than a baseless theory.

However, he wasn't above a little bit of pushing. He stopped walking and turned to face his plucky follower.

“Do you remember why we're here today, Xirena?” He asks in a calm voice. 

“Mhmm, I sure do!” She proclaimed, sounding childishly prideful.

“Tell me what the mission is, Xirena.” He pressed on. 

“Uhm well...” She began, suddenly growing timid, “We gotta go.... and.... kill a big Heartless...” She added. Her previously proud voice had fallen into uncertainty and shame. Zexion thought for a moment before responding. 

“An accurate enough answer.” He conceded, and went on to respond with a brief lecture that was both stern and kind, “Keep your mind on the mission Xirena. We have a job to do, you can look at the pretty flowers once we destroy that Heartless.” 

It was an honest promise and not a sarcastic quip, which really made Xirena happy. Having permission to explore the forest excited her, she wanted to run around and do it right now but Zexion had a commanding way about him that made it impossible to disobey. He wasn't like Rex – who has some control issues – but rather like someone wise and worldly; who knows best and allows that to shine through in his personality and used it to his advantage with their business. His intentions are not always pure, though... But on a standard ole mission with the ever dopey Xirena? He had no schemes for this girl. Her easily influenced self worked well with his goal oriented work – she wasn't difficult, at least, not in the same way as others. He could keep her motivated, which he found rather refreshing compared to the other guys, who all seem to be stubborn or moody... or both. 

“One more thing before we continue.” He says. Xirena stares at him, “Have you read the books I assigned to you last week?” 

That's right. Just like Vexen, Zexion was tasked with some teaching. However, what he gave to the members was culture and the arts – mostly through literature. He loved reading himself and hoped to pass it on to others so he had someone to discuss books with... But over and over again he was disappointed. Unlike combative magic, literature wasn't a required class. You could liken it to an elective... an encouraged elective. But we all know that Xirena loves to learn, but sometimes she runs into some trouble... 

“Um, they were really long and didn't have any pictures and it was hard and I got headaches so I stopped...” She answered honestly, hanging her head. 

Zexion frowned, internally frustrated yet at the same time he wasn't surprised. As he was about to lecture her on this shortcoming, Xirena raised her head back up quickly, and a look of longing was in her eyes. 

“Maybe you could read them to me?!” She asked excitedly. 

His intended words halted in his throat – Zexion didn't expect that one. With all his knowledge and eye for reading others, he couldn't anticipate that sort of request. 

“I...” He started, but in reality he had jumped the gun. He wasn't sure how to respond immediately to her. 

With thinking about it, he came to the conclusion that it wasn't a _terrible_ idea. 

“We can try that.” He answered. 

“Oh goodie!” Xirena celebrated. 

The joy was ephemeral though... The peace was shattered when a large creature dropped in from the canopy above, crashing down and nearly landing on Zexion and Xirena. When the shock wore off and the dust cleared, an abnormally large Soldier-type Heartless stood in front of the pair while twitching and gyrating monstrously. Unlike the common Soldiers, it's body was a deep red color which contrasted with the bright crimson logo it sported on its chest. Xirena trembled – she'd never taken on an enemy of this scale before. 

“Draw your weapon!” She heard Zexion shout. 

Xirena was stuck in a pit of fear as the monster loomed over her and Zexion, her only movement coming in the form of an unintentional fall backwards – right onto her ass – with her unblinking gaze locked on the Heartless the whole time. While she was frozen on the ground, Zexion had leaped backwards to put more space between himself and the Heartless. He wasn't about to waste his time trying to save Xirena when he could surely just take care of business himself. The Book of Retribution appeared in his hands, already opened and ready to do battle. He began by casting a high level blizzard spell at the Heartless – the ice crystals exploding against it's dark body were more than enough to take it's attention over to Zexion – taking the heat off the hapless girl. 

Xirena breathed heavily as the shadow of the monster disappeared from over her, having decided to attack Zexion instead. Her head was spinning and her ears buzzed, but it was when the Heartless was completely uninterested in her that she had a burst of insight. The songs of the birds and croaking of frogs she so enjoyed pierced the veil of fear plugging her ears – it sounded like a beautifully composed piece of music to her, and the rhythm echoed through her soul. With the sounds of the forest compelling her to move, Xirena summoned every ounce of agility in her body and leaped onto her feet. She twirled her right hand and thrust it straight up into the air above her head, fingers spread as if reaching desperately for something unseen. Almost instantly, a flurry of purple sparkles appeared above her; and just as quickly as the mysterious light phenomenon appeared, it dissipated into thin air. But now an object was in her hand that she held up so high... A long, pole-arm weapon with a curved one-sided blade at the tip. Having a magical girl moment to herself, she remained posed with her feet spread apart and her head tilted upwards towards her weapon – smiling like a dope. 

The breeze carried the song of the forest into Xirena's ears which spurred her to keep moving. She brought the glaive down and started to sashay towards Zexion and the Heartless. Her mind automatically blocked out any noises except for the song. Feeling a climatic moment approaching, she jumped into a revoltade while swinging the blade of her long reaching weapon directly at the heartless. She managed to strike it twice with her mid-air spin, and landed in a crouched position, realizing her success she quickly hopped to her feet. 

“I did it! I hit him!” She cheered for herself. 

But the Heartless didn't take kindly to that. It turned it's attention back to the Dancer of Dreams and went in for a swiping claw attack. Having broken her own focus, Xirena yelped and clumsily stumbled backwards to get out of it's range of attack. As she retreated, she heard the footsteps of her giant pursuer come to a halt and the smell of ash filled the air. She whirled around to see that Zexion had finished the monster off with a high level fire spell while it had it's guard down.

“Still green I see.” He said on the other side of the disappearing flames and darkness, “But not a bad effort.” 

“Thanks!” Xirena replied, so proud of herself for having a useful moment in such a frightening combat experience. Her weapon disappeared in the same flurry of sparkles it had appeared with.

“Still though... it seems like you went from zero to sixty there. How did you gain the confidence to fight?” Zexion asked. 

“I listened to the animal noises and stuff in the forest because all together it sounded like a song, so I danced. Dancing made me feel braver!” 

“Hm... _Interesting_ response.” 

Zexion opened his ears to the noises around him. They were subtle, but he did not find what Xirena did when listening to them. They were pleasant enough to the ear, but Zexion found it hard to believe something so simple and seemingly nonsensical could inspire even an ounce of bravery. 

Saying Xirena marches to the beat of a different drummer would be a massive understatement. The most accurate alternative would be to say there's no beat at all yet she marches just as much as if there was one anyway. As he considered all this, Xirena stood in front of him looking expectant, swaying idly from side to side. When Zexion noticed, he immediately realized what she was waiting for: Orders.

“You're free to go back whenever you want, I'm going to stay here for a bit.” He told her, “Or stay, it's of no consequence to me what you do.” 

“Oh ok.” Xirena nodded, and paused her swaying, “I think I wanna hang out here some more!”

“Very well.” Zexion responded with a satisfied tone, “Just do one thing for me: if you happen upon any forget-me-nots, pick some and bring them to me.” 

“Eh?” Xirena was confused, but what else is new?

Zexion summoned up another book similar to his battle lexicon, but this one wasn't used for combat. It was more plain looking, in fact it was very plain – just a thick, brown leather book with a golden latch that acted as a seal to keep it shut. He gracefully opened up to a random page in the middle, where a beautiful yellow flower sat flat and preserved on the aged paper. Xirena leaned in close to get a better look at it. 

“One of my hobbies is flower pressing, and somehow those forget-me-nots keep eluding me... Perhaps you'll have better luck than I.” 

He snapped the book shut in Xirena's face and she herself snapped up, standing straight and stiff from the fright she just got. 

“Y-You got it!” Having the tip of her nose almost crushed between the pages of the book caused her to stammer a bit.

With a nod of dismissal, Xirena turned on her heel and skipped away. At this point she wouldn't have to worry about getting lost since she could just summon up a corridor wherever she pleased if she wanted to get out. But for the time being, she had remained in an area where Zexion was still in view... There was plenty there to look at before moving on. The Lotus Forest is a magical place to be, since it's apart of Wonderland and all... There's always a new type of flower blossoming somewhere almost every day. You'd have your “ordinary” types of flowers like daisies, sunflowers and roses around for a few weeks – but then they disappear in favor of new wondrous growths. Then roses can be seen sprouting among them. It's a whole big cycle. You could compare this to how different plants grow during different seasons, but at a highly accelerated rate. The whole point is, the forest is never a dull place to be.

Xirena slowed her skippy pace as she arrived at a wall of roses. There were the classic reds, whites, yellows... but then, a blue one with a pattern of white stars on it's petals, tye-dye colored roses, roses that had petals of alternating color... It was incredible! Xirena's eyes sparkled as she gaped at them. It grew up against a wall of larger, sturdier plants behind it, extending up the length of them – and possibly down the other side. Who knows? This is Wonderland after all. The patch of blue with white star patterned roses caught Xirena's eyes first though, so she squatted down in front of them with her hands on her knees, then resting her chin on her hands.

“So pretty...” She murmured to herself, feeling a warmth in her chest as she gazed at all the exotic flora.

“Those ones are called Starlight Roses.” 

Xirena let out a little gasp, not realizing Zexion had wandered in her direction while she was awestruck by the roses. She didn't get up, but she turned her head as much as she could to communicate with him. 

“They say when these roses are under a starry sky they start to sparkle, but once the stars are no longer visible they look as they do now.” He continued, “I unfortunately can't confirm or deny these claims for you though.”

“Oh ok...” Xirena's head fell back to it's previous position, “Why don't we take one home and find out?” 

“Xirena...” Zexion began, “There aren't any stars back home.” 

_Oink oink oink...._  

Xirena's ears perked up before she had a chance to be disappointed by Zexion's facts. Zexion heard rustling in the bushes.

_Oink.. Oink oink..._

Not too far away the source of the oinks emerged from a small bush. A tiny pig, about the size of a piglet really, stepped carefully as it dragged it's nose across the ground while it sniffed wildly. It caught both Xirena and Zexion's attention because – like most everything in that forest – is was a little strange looking. It was blue. Blue with a flower design on it's back, along with a patch of darker fur around one of it's eyes.

“Oh! She's so cute!” Xirena giddily yelled. She hopped up back to her feet and began to approach the blue pig.

The pig quickly looked up and assumed a stiff, startled stance. For some reason though, when it saw Xirena approaching it started to relax a bit – but still looking wary of this newcomer.

Xirena stopped a foot or so in front of the pig, an the pig started to oink at her. Xirena nodded along as the pig oinked, as if she were in a conversation with it and wanted to convey a sense of understanding. But, it was a pig... The oinking ceased and Xirena hummed to herself, giving one final nod to the pig. Next thing you know, the pig is swaddled in Xirena's arms. 

“Very nice to meet you!” Xirena said to the pig as she hugged it, “I'm gonna take you home and you can live with me! Ok?” 

The pig oinked. Xirena took it as a “yes” because what else was there to do at this point? Xirena was now dead set on going home right away – totally forgetting about looking for the forget-me-nots, which was probably for the best because she didn't know what forget-me-nots even looked like. 

Xirena was really excited about this. It would be nice to have company during the night when she's by herself, someone to talk to and someone (somepig?) to snuggle with. Xirena was also real hyped to introduce Axel to her new piggy companion. She could only hope that they would get along.

 


	6. Turn To Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xirena brings her piggy friend home from Wonderland, but has she really thought it through? The answer is no. Little did she know of the reactions her new pet would ignite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oof this took a long time. I ran into some trouble IRL and was unable to work on this (or anything) at all for at least a week due to that specific issue. The rest of the time I just felt uninspired and in a slump. Anyway, for more frequent updates on the status of this fic, other stories and exclusive artwork please **LIKE my facebook fanpage (link in profile)!** Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoy!

 

* * *

**Chapter VI: Turn To Stone**

_There is something I see in you_  
 _It might kill me  
_ _I want it to be true_

* * *

Xirena pranced out of the dark corridor and back into the Gray Area, and her mission partner – Zexion – wasn't too far behind her. She giggled as she passed by her co-workers who were lazing around, having already completed their work for the day. Rex and Luxord were there, and the king of lazing around himself: Xigbar. Axel gives him a run for his money for being the most lazy asshole in the Organization though, perhaps they are even equals. Either way, the freeshooter heard the familiar sounds of a dark corridor and the emergent footsteps that followed, raising his head to see which of his coworkers were back. He had a feeling it was Xirena, based on the prancing rather than normal walking. Seeing he was right, he grinned with huge amounts of arrogance and villainy.

"Ay Bubbles, what are you so happy about?" Xigbar, who was seated next to Rex, asked dryly as Xirena moved by him, "Someone butter your muffin or something?"

Rex shrieked with his mouth shut tight and kicked the freeshooter in the shin – he knew what "buttering someones muffin" meant – he picked it up from 'Mean Girls.' Rex was also slightly –  _just slightly –_ appalled by the nickname Xigbar had chosen for her, as he is the one who inspired it in a roundabout way. See, Rex was having his daily bitch-fit and Xigbar was the only victim in the vicinity to absorb what Rex was saying. Xigbar didn't catch much of the early tidbits, but his pointed ears perked up when he heard Rex start to unleash his frustrations with Xirena, specifically when he said 'ugh and her butt is too big for fashion, she needs to diet so I can actually USE her.' Now, Xigbar never saw her with her coat off so he couldn't be sure if the bubble butt was real or just Rex being a dramatic homo who was incredibly petty. Regardless, he decided to call her Bubbles because everything else he came up with – Idiot, Dumbass, Stupid, Airhead, Dingus – weren't very creative... and insulting her with an ambiguous yet innocent and cute-sounding nickname felt so much more rewarding than calling things as he seems em 100% of the time. In fact, Xirena herself quite liked the sound of 'Bubbles,' and her blind acceptance of the name made it even BETTER. Ignorance truly is bliss.

"No, but I found a pig!" She exclaimed with no tact whatsoever.

Xirena shrugged her right shoulder twice with a pleased look on her face. The single shoulder double-shrug turned out to be a cue; a cue for the outlandish pig to emerge from her hood. The pig wiggled over her shoulder, and she positioned herself on it... as if she were a parrot or some other animal that perches. But instead of standing, the pig just laid on it's stomach as it hung over the front of her shoulder, while keeping the rest of herself in Xirena's hood – kind of like how you'd hang a wet towel over a bannister to let it dry. This provided a great way to quickly hide, all the pig would have to do is squiggle backwards and let gravity tuck her completely into Xirena's hood.

The other present members – Rex, Xigbar, Luxord and Zexion – all had such  _unique_  reactions.

Rex looked disgusted.

Zexion was apathetic, considering this was old news to him at this point.

Luxord stroked his chin and looked rather baffled.

… and Xigbar looked hungry.

"Ohh I bet that thing would be delicious with some sunny-side up eggs..." He murmured. He licked his lips and rubbed his hands together comically, earning him a nasty sneer and a quiet 'ew' from Rex, but what did Xigbar care?

"That's her name!" Xirena exclaimed, "Sunny! Her full name is 'Sunshine Star Flower' but I just call her Sunny."

Sunny snorted happily, which made Xirena giggle. It was a snorting and giggling event and it sounded really weird to everyone else.

"What's all this  _happiness_  that I hear?" A voice taunted playfully.

Axel had appeared from the residential hall, but no-one noticed him, even after his bomb of a comment. Xirena had her back turned to him, but he could see the other members' faces clear as day – and they were all looking at each other with odd expressions on their faces. He scoffed to himself and made his approach.

"Hey there buddy!" He said as he came up behind Xirena.

It all happened in slow motion – He went to the left of her, and raised his hand up to grab her right shoulder. As he let his hand drop he was shocked to feel something abnormal... and even more shocked to hear the loud squealing of a displeased pig. On top the pig's loud cries, Xirena had shrieked when she felt Axel's hand impact poor, unseen Sunny. Wanting to get away from her "attacker," Sunny jumped from Xirena's shoulder with unexpected agility and began to run around the Gray Area. As she passed by Rex and Xigbar, Rex pulled his legs up onto the couch and started to scream while Xigbar laughed so loudly at him that he was doubled over and quickly running out of breath. Xirena was overwhelmed by all the noise and watching Sunny dart around the room. Xirena spun around to face Axel, her face red and full of previously unseen fervor.

" _Axel!_ " She cried in disbelief and woe, "How could you do that to Sunny?!"

"What?! I didn't know it was there!" He quickly apologized.

She didn't hear much of what he had to say since she had taken off to chase after the rogue pig before Axel's pitiful apology could be heard. Rex, meanwhile, was having his own meltdown. The thought of a pig... a filty, disgusting pig... anywhere near him was enough to trigger a panic attack for him. A chaotic din born from the swine had filled the Gray Area, but Xirena was finally able to nab Sunny and started her attempts to calm her down. Axel bit down hard on his cheek. Too many things to think about.

Xirena held Sunny in her arms like a newborn, tenderly yet firmly to keep her stable. While her eyes were focused on Sunny, Xirena felt her body start whooshing forward out of nowhere. In truth, it wasn't from nowhere, Axel had taken her under his arm and started to whisk her and the pig away as quickly and quietly as he possibly could. The mayhem in the Gray Area was growing further and further away as he ushered the two down to the residential hall. He headed for his room – opening the door so fluidly that it didn't feel like he stopped his advancing even for a second. Once inside, he thrust the girl away – perhaps with unintended extra force in his panic – and slammed the door shut. His head fell against the door, where it lingered while he re-assembled his thoughts. He groaned loudly and reluctantly picked up his head again, giving it a good shake. The spot in his mouth he had bit was sore.

"Woooaa...aah..."

Axel looked over his shoulder and saw Xirena on the floor, legs akimbo and a dizzied look about her. She sat with her arms on the floor behind her, completely supporting her weight. Sunny was in her lap, looking not too happy with Axel. The redhead internally facepalmed and cringed as he recalled a similar situation in Agrabah not that long ago.

"Jeez, I'm sorry!" He apologized, and added in a lower voice "I can't believe I did that again..."

He jogged over to her as he spoke and knelt down in front of her. Sunny hopped off her mother's lap and made herself comfortable a few feet away to watch the exchange between the two. Axel found himself chewing on the inside of his cheek again, right in the same spot as before – it was almost an automatic reaction to anxiety for him at this point. He couldn't exactly go the common route of nail biting since they always had those thick gloves on.

Xirena's head hung slightly, with her chin hovering just above her chest. What compelled Axel to do what he did next was a mystery even to himself. He reached out slowly – Xirena not noticing at all – but in mere seconds, Xirena felt the soft texture of those gloves meet the bare skin of her chin. Axel then tilted her face upwards.

"Are you alright?" He asked as their eyes met.

"Ye..ah... I'm alright." She answered, looking – and sounding – dazed.

Before he could express any sort of relief at all, the sound of an angry snort filled the air. Axel snapped his hand back from Xirena and turned and looked to the blue creature. Sunny's dark eyes met Axel's brilliant green ones, staring the man down in the way an overprotective father would as he met his daughter's first boyfriend. Axel didn't feel threatened by the pig, but still glared back at her with pure, unadulterated disdain.

" _I didn't ask you._ " Axel grumbled through gritted teeth.

Xirena giggled, which guided Axel's attention back to her. The chaotic tension of the previous situation had lifted enough by now, for sure.

"Isn't she cute?!" Xirena exclaimed, her usual energy now restored, "She's my new pet! I'm gonna keep her in my room and take care of her."

"Uhh..." Axel drawled.

A pet...? A PIG no less! A glittery blue pig with a pink flower pattern on it's back... There's no way that something like this would fly with the higher-ups. If Saix ever found out... well, Xigbar would be getting his breakfast wish after all. Axel knew what he had to do, he had to tear down the poor girl's hopes and metaphorically punch her in the face with reality.

But wait...

Just where did this pig even come from...? It suddenly felt like there were so many things to address all at once... The best course of action to Axel was to continue on his first thought.

"Listen, Zee, I'm sure Sunny's a great pig and all buuuuuut" He began, his words slowly fading. He finished his sentence with great fervor, spoken quickly in one short breath, "I don't think it'd the best idea."

Xirena looked back at him with blatant confusion. He was used to this by now, and continued,

"Saix would blow a gasket if he found out you decided to just bring a pet home without any permission. Even if you did ask, I don't think he'd let you keep her anyway."

"...Oh ok." The somber yet puzzled Xirena replied, "I have a question though."

Oh what else is new?

"Alright, lay it on me."

"Who is 'Zee'?"

Now Axel was the one perplexed. He mentally backtracked on what he'd just said, soon realizing that he had spontaneously given her a nickname.

"It's you." He replied after an extended pause, "I kinda shortened your name without thinking I guess... A bit of a nickname, eh?"

"A nickname? Oh, Uncle Xiggy gave me one of those too! He calls me Bubbles."

Axel was positive that the origins of that nickname were less than wholesome, so he decided it was something best to be avoided.

"...I think I'll stick to Zee." He said, "Unless you have a problem with being called Zee."

"I don't!" She exclaimed, "It sounds nice... Right Sunny?"

Sunny looked unimpressed, shrugging her pig shoulders in apathy. Xirena took it as a yes.

"Alright!" Axel cheered, "Zee it is then."

It was such a sweet moment in a cheesy way – all it's missing is a high five and a freeze frame. But alas, branching off into the nickname subject didn't change the fact that they had an unauthorized animal in their company. In the brief moment between topics of conversation, Axel took notice of something he certainly should have noticed already...

They were still sitting on the floor like a pair of dunces. A pair of dunces with a pig!

The red head swiftly stood up, standing straight and stiff, while Xirena on the other hand was taking her sweet time rising back to her feet. Now that they were both back on their feet, Axel decided to move forward with the problematic pet pig panic.

"Zee..." He murmured with heavy lament in his voice.

He prematurely looked away from her. Her face was too emotive, and he knew that the moment he broke her heart the look on her face would be too intolerable. It was almost as if he felt... guilty. He killed that idea before it could even fully form in his head, because for him to be feeling anything at all – especially  _guilt_  – was simply impossible. Totally out of the question.

"You gotta get rid of the pig." He finally said, sternly.

It went quiet. Axel casually scratched the back of his head as he looked anywhere but where he needed to be looking. A small sound crept into his ear... a desperate whimper. The faint sound was more than enough to snap his head back where it belonged. He was so used to seeing her cheery all the time that this was totally foreign territory... Cheery or confused, sometimes both at the same time. The tension in the room was as thick as an arctic glacier in the coldest of seasons. Even Sunny was perceptive enough to see that something was wrong, but then again a pig from Wonderland surely is a creature that is whimsically different from your average swine.

Things were about to go nuclear as he saw her take in a deep breath so that she could wail in despair. In an unexpected turn of events, Xirena suddenly dropped back to the floor and sat beside Sunny. She scooped her up and held her close, whispering to her. It looked a lot different from Axel's point of view though... for the hot second before looking down, he feared that she suddenly fainted. This was all within a fraction of a second of course, and the man's eyes traveled down to the heap on the floor also known as Xirena. Axel's big round ears were keen enough to pick up on what she was saying to the pig.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry Sunny..." He heard her say in a tiny voice.

Instead of getting upset with him for ruining her piggy fun, she chose to engage the pig entirely – completely ignoring Axel. Zee spoke to Sunny without pausing at all, he was hearing more apologies and rough explanations about the whole situation. He could have sworn he heard her mention Saix at least once, which both amused and relieved Axel in a way. He felt a wicked sense of satisfaction as he saw that Xirena understood that Saix was a major buzzkill 24/7. At least that would make their lives going forward a bit easier – if she knew enough at this point about Saix to avoid his bad side, life would be smooth sailing. Yet at the same time...

Every word of grief spoken to Sunny pierced through Axel's mind. He knew that he had to keep the peace and not get Saix in a huff, but seeing this poor girl despair over losing her pet was hitting him hard, in a way he never would have expected. Without even noticing the emotional effect it had on him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and quickly pulled Xirena – with Sunny in her arms – up to her feet with wild energy.

"Screw it! The pig stays!"

Xirena's disposition changed just about as fast as Axel's had. She smiled broadly and nuzzled Sunny.

"We're gonna have so much fun~!" Zee celebrated.

"Yeah, yeah don't get too excited now. We need some rules." Axel insisted, speaking in a gentler voice to get her calmed down, also releasing her.

"Oh ok." She obliged and settled down immediately.

"We gotta keep this pig a secret at all costs, at least from Saix and Xemnas. If he finds out we're harboring a rogue pig, we'll be Dusks for a year and a half." He continued, Xirena nodding along with what he was saying, perhaps not fully grasping how much that punishment would suck, "We'll figure it out Zee..." He added with assurance.

He reached out and playfully ruffled up her hair... for some reason that was becoming an odd reflex that he couldn't control. Axel chose to brush it off. It wasn't important right now.

Retracting his hand, Xirena had a look on her face that was almost coquettish. A silence had fallen, Xirena was having trouble finding the right words of gratitude to use. A simple "thank you" would not at all cover just how intensely grateful she was. At this point Axel decided to drive the conversation in a somewhat different direction, leaving the words of gratitude left unspoken.

"So..." He began, "Where did you even find a pi- … I mean, Sunny. Where did you find Sunny?"

"I found her in Wonderland! On a mission with Zexion!" Zee said enthusiastically.

"I should have guessed..." Axel's eyes traveled to Sunny, taking in her abnormal appearance. But enough about the pig! Axel continued to steer the topic away from the pig without straying too far, sounding as natural as he could, "What else happened at work?"

"Oh... Oh! Oh! I did a really good job helping fight the Heartless!" She revealed.

"That's good to hear."

It only then struck him that he and Zee were standing around like a pair of idiots.

"Why don't you go sit down? It sounds like your day was a little exhausting." Axel offered.

Xirena looked around.

"Oh ok. But where do I sit?" She asked.

Axel pointed behind her, where his nice comfy bed was. A look of understanding crossed her face, and Zee shuffled backwards until her legs met the bed, when which she plopped herself down, carelessly not looking at all. She released Sunny to travel as she pleased, choosing to lay down on the bed next to Xirena. Axel wasn't going to sit on the bed though. He thought that'd be a little weird, so instead he grabbed the chair at his desk and dragged it so it was in front of Xirena. Since he was a totally cool and not a lame dude, he flipped the chair around and sat on it backwards.

"Anything else happen?" Axel asked as he laid his arms and head on the top of the chair's back side.

"Well..." Xirena began softly, "After we got rid of the Heartless, I was looking around at all the pretty flowers... I found these ones called Starlight Roses that were blue and had a white star pattern on the petals. They sparkle under the stars!"

Axel threw back his head and let out a loud laugh – a single, powerful "HAH!" – and Zee didn't understand why. She tilted her head to the side like a puppy, waiting for him to explain.

"Man, I've been to Wonderland a million times and I've never seen flowers like you're talking about. You trying to play a trick on me?" He said, lacing his words with playful malice.

Zee straightened out again, looking distressed.

"N-No! I'm not trying to trick you! They're real, I swear... Zexion will tell you! He was right there with me looking at them..."

"Hmm I'll believe it when I see it for myself." Axel replied, his playful tone still remaining.

Xirena's expression fell into a frown. If what Zexion said about everything changing was true, then the next time either she or Axel were in Wonderland they might not even be there anymore. Then there'd be no way to prove that she was right about these flowers – continuing to dwell was only making Xirena more and more distressed.

"Hey."

A pat on the head knocked all the distress out of it. Axel's long, gangly arms were able to reach her – good thing too, that head pat seemed to be just what she needed.

"I'm just messing with ya, Zee." Axel assured her.

"Oh ok..."

A silence fell, as well as Axel's arm – down to his side. A wave of delayed exhaustion overtook Xirena – the hype about Sunny kept her all manic-like until now. With a heavy exhale, she released her body and limply fell backwards onto the cushy bed. With eyes barely open, she could just barely see out the window on the wall against the bed. It was a hard angle, but she could still make it out. As she stared out of it, she recalled what Zexion had said... their sky was indeed empty. Axel stared with eyes narrowed with a hint of concern, not really sure if she was alright. Only one way to find out...

"You okay over there...?" He said as if walking on eggshells.

"We don't have any stars here." Xirena quietly replied, "I was hoping to see them, but I guess that won't happen now."

Axel craned his neck to try and get a look at her face, as she was still lying down. She looked melancholy, as well as tired. Axel had to do something. He fluidly and quickly rose from his seat and walked in front of Xirena, leaning over her. Given his size he didn't need to bend far to make eye contact with her. Zee's eyes traveled from the dark window to Axel's vibrant green eyes when she felt his presence.

"How bout this..." He began, "I'll show you a sky full of stars – the best view there is out there, I promise I'll find it. "

Zee sat up and Axel stepped back, and she had that look on her face again. That look that always preceded a question about something that was just said or done.

"What's 'promise?'" Xirena asked with no prompting.

"A promise? Uh well..." Axel scratched his head, trying to find the simplest breakdown for her, "It means that no matter what, I'm gonna make it happen."

A smile graced Xirena's weary face.

"Really?" She asked.

"Really."

A pink hue crept onto Xirena's porcelain cheeks, partnered with the goofy smile. She didn't really notice – and honestly, he really didn't either – but Axel stared at her reddened face with admiration. This was all too soon interrupted though, when Xirena yawned widely. A tiny, high pitched noise accompanied her gaping yawn right before her jaw snapped shut again.

"I think I better get going..." She said tiredly.

"Yeah, you look beat." Axel affirmed

Xirena slowly rose to her feet and picked up Sunny. Zee went ahead and placed the blue pig on her shoulder, cradled by her hood. The eyes of the two Nobodies met once more, and perhaps for the last time that night.

"Hm... I don't know if I can go and have Zexion read to me now..." She said, to herself really, analyzing how tired she was versus story time.

"Zexion's reading to you? He never read anything for me!" Axel said with an immense amount of facetiousness.

"Oh... I'll tell him you said that!" Xirena responded with the utmost concern, "I'm sure he will if you just ask him."

"N-No Zee, don't do that." Axel insisted.

"Oh ok." She replied swiftly. A small puff of air blowing her hair accompanied by a grunt told her that Sunny was trying to get her attention, "Oh, right! Bed time for you, Sunny. Say good-night to Axel!"

Sunny stared blankly at Axel and let out a low and quiet grunt.

"You... too?" Axel replied uncertainly.

The pigs blank stare was now infused with a look of 'you ain't shit, son.' The affection – or even just the  _approval_  at the very least – of this pig must be earned is what Axel took away from this.

"Well, nighty night!" Zee chimed in, filling the silence.

When she turned to walk away it was swift and graceful as it usually was – always light on her feet that Xirena was. Axel was so busy thinking about why the pig didn't like him that his reaction to Zee was far more delayed than it should have been, far more sudden.

"Xirena!" He called out.

Xirena half turned and looked back at Axel with heightened curiosity. It was his intention going into this to just be a decent guy and say good night back to her, but his mind dumped this mathematical equation back onto him that he couldn't shake: PIG + SAIX = VERY BAD = PUNISHMENT – HAPPINESS → SAIX = UNHAPPINESS... This eternal fear lead him to impulsively make another declaration, but a declaration not quite as grand as showing the gal a sky full of stars... but a declaration all the same! He summoned the most charisma – that was buried in a sea of stress – he could so that he would sound confident and non-beta.

"If anyone ever gives you any trouble, you can come to me and I'll cover you." He added.

Xirena's face lit up.

"Oh wow, no-one's ever 'covered me' before... whatever that means... but thank you!" She said gleefully.

"Well, isn't that what friends are for?"

These words just sort of fell out of his skull, riding on the oomph of being confident in his previous statement. He hadn't quite called her a 'friend' yet, or put too much thought into it at all. They were coworkers first, and social creatures second. Yet he knew the best thing to do was to stay strong in those words, it just felt wrong to say anything otherwise at this point.

"Hmm, I guess you're right." She replied, giggling quietly – almost totally inaudibly, "Now Rex isn't my only friend!"

And with that, Xirena resumed her personal mission to put her pet to bed and possibly go have story time with the resident literary nerd. Her form disappeared behind his door, heading to her own room directly across the hall. Boy did Axel feel like a cool guy now. He crossed his arms loosely, and chuckled arrogantly.

"Axel, you smooth operator..." He said, literally to himself. He sounded like he was about to congratulate himself on being very cool.

But what all had happened was starting to sink in, the events replaying is his mind. One in particular stood out now... promising to show her the stars, but not just that, show her the  _best_ view there was. His eyes went wide. Where exactly would the best starry sky be?! His arms dropped back down and he sighed as his confidence slowly evaporated. Now he'd have to take mental notes on every world he went to, to see where the best view truly was.

But wait a minute... why take this so seriously to begin with? Surely it wouldn't make a difference to her, yet still...


	7. Fragility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: HELLOOOOOO everyone! What a rough month it has been, and it's been killing me not to update but I think I'm satisfied enough to share this one now. Also, I mention someplace called the "Nox Arbore" pretty early on here, and if you go to my facebook fanpage I will be uploading a very rough concept sketch of what that place would look like. The link is in my profile, but here it is again: facebook.com/shinseikakumeiART - so please LIKE (and share? 3) for cool updates and stuff. Enjoy!

 

**Chapter VII: Fragility**

_Here I am, a rabbit hearted girl_  
 _Frozen in the headlights  
_ _It seems I've made the final sacrifice_

* * *

" _Phew!" Zee sighed with shortened breath._

_She had run to the Nox Arbore after putting Sunny down in bed – she was determined to follow up with Zexion. It would be wrong to ditch him without a word of notice, right?_

" _Hm?"_

_Zexion looked up from the thick book he had been reading through with a curious hum. He nodded to himself with a slight smile, telling himself "oh right, I agreed to this..." With his face down turned, he took one last glance at his book and he closed it slowly. Once closed the book evaporated into a dark mist, reappearing on one of the shelves that lined the room._

_The Nox Arbore was one of the more luxurious locations in the castle, and it was all Zexion's. The members all had their own places in the castle that catered to them, in addition to the standardized rooms. These places would construct themselves after a new member joins, the castle itself reacting to a new presence... or non-presence rather. Funny how spontaneous creation comes from the power of Nothing in their world. These are places that had entrances grouped together in The Proof of Existence, where each marker bore a symbol – typically an image of their unique weapon – related to each member. These markers acted as portals that gave fast access to all members at once, and only Xemnas (and Saix, since he's administrative too) had access to it. See, for the sake of privacy these rooms and the routes to them were protected from undesired invasion by dark corridor, leaving other members to have to travel by foot to get to these places. The member that the room "belonged" to was permitted to warp in there though. Not even their bedrooms had this kind of security! This is why the administrators were the only ones who had the means to enter any of these places via Proof of Existence and travel as they please. But in a case such as this, Zexion had given permission for Xirena to enter preemptively._

_For example, Luxord has a reasonably sized casino which he aptly named Lucky Luxord's (what it's "official" name was is unknown). Xigbar is a frequent customer there, along with low-level Nobodies like Dusks and Dancers... it was rare that other members showed up to piss their hard earned cash away. Another brief example is The Void of Reverie, belonging to Xirena. But right now, we were in Zexion's space. His room was almost organic looking – it had a single tree with dark bark and black leaves in the dead center of this circular room – the walls nothing but bookshelves – and the tree was home to the perfect spots for comfortable reading. A single beam of light from above illuminated the high-ceilinged chamber, which constantly offered the ideal amount of light for reading. Most of the tree's roots were seen above ground, dipping under every so often. This created labyrinthine paths which spread outwards and all the way to the walls, the "dipped under" points being the equivalent of doorways. Once they reached the edges of the room, the roots were completely out of sight, which created a good space to stroll along up against the bookshelves. The roots weren't HUGE, but they were sizable enough to make it inconvenient to try and climb over them. They also worked as a categorizing system for Zexion's library... one path leads to (x) type of book, another leads to (y) type of book. It wasn't exactly practical, but it made for a neat aesthetic... there was also the fact that Zexion could summon the books to him, but sometimes he liked to take the manual route and stroll around his library._

_It was calming._

" _I wasn't sure you'd still be coming." Zexion spoke as Xirena jogged up to him and the tree, "It's getting late, isn't it?"_

" _Yeah, but I still wanted to!" Xirena chirped excitedly_

" _Good." He said as he stood up, "I didn't want it to be an obligation, so I'm glad to see you came out of your own interest and desire to learn."_

_Xirena was nodding her head shortly but quickly, unblinking as she listened to her senior member. He gestured to a good looking spot against the tree._

" _Make yourself comfortable and I'll find something to read."_

* * *

The morning following a late night is punishing enough, but for someone who is most often in bed at the proper time, it was double brutal for Xirena. She hadn't stayed up super late, but Xirena's eyelids were heavy all the same. Regardless, she got off to a bit of an unsettling start... There was a strange weight on her abdomen that certainly was not there when she went to sleep. Her first thought was being sick, but with what? Once her eyes opened she saw the cause... Sunny was sitting on her stomach, equipped with a piece of paper in her mouth.

"Oh hi Sunny... good morning..~!" Xirena said wearily, raising a hand and stroking the pig's back.

Sunny's spring-like tail wagged in delight, but she knew she had a job to do. Sunny rose to her hooves after taking a moment to bask in the affection and let the paper in her mouth fall onto Xirena. With a satisfied oink, Sunny turned and hopped off her master and onto the bed.

"Hm?"

Xirena propped herself up on her elbows and lifted her upper body to see what Sunny had given her. It was a folded over piece of paper – now with a wet spot on it from Sunny's mouth – and it looked like it might have been written on.

"A secret note?!" She exclaimed.

It took less than a second for Zee to propel herself up fully and cross her legs to sit comfortably. She wasted no time in unfolding the paper, eager to see what kind of message she received. Her big eyes scanned the words, slowly and carefully.

_Yo,_

_I forgot to mention last night, the clock tower's a bust so just meet me at home from now on. It's going under construction or something... We can just chill in our rooms until we find a cooler spot. Just knock on my door and if I'm not there, I'll find you._

_-AXEL!_

This message was the definition of short, sweet and to the point. Xirena nodded at the paper, then proceeded to fold it back up in the same way that she received it. She hopped out of bed with unexpected pep and walked speedily to her desk, where she opened a drawer and carefully placed the note inside. There wasn't much else in there, just that star charm she had when she was found. Seeing it now the shape of a star triggered a flood of longing, as opposed to feeling nothing at all when she saw it. But this wasn't an "emotion" she had "felt" yet in her life. She smiled faintly at the two items that now occupied the drawer, then slowly pushed it closed.

* * *

In a bizarre twist of fate, Axel was already out working. He was still making his way through the dark corridor, but in truth he wasn't in a hurry. He stood in poor posture and hands shoved deep into his pockets, and a strained look on his face that indicated his distressing deep dive into his thoughts.

"Tch. You've done it now, man." He spoke to himself, "The BEST view? I never even paid attention to the damn skies enough to know which ones are good and which ones aren't!"

He wished there was a rock, or anything really, to go and kick to take out his frustration on. But no, darkness up, down and all around.

"Great job. A+ work Axel." He continued sardonically. His tone of mocking disappeared when he spoke out again, "I'll never be able to do that... I just c- WAIT A SECOND."

He abruptly came to a halt. He straightened out and pulled his hands out of the deep pockets of his coat, with the purpose of using one to slap himself on the forehead as he shook his head slowly.

"Why am I even worrying about this..." He said darkly.

He tried to dispel the thoughts that haunted him the previous night and every moment that morning. Whenever he made this effort though, Zee's face of grief when he told her they had to get rid of Sunny flashed in his mind – obscuring his efforts at policing his own thoughts. It was a face he never wanted to see again; a face that he didn't want to be the cause of ever again. He huffed and rolled his eyes, trying to move back into his unfortunately desired but contrived state of mind. Part of him knew, however, that he wouldn't be able to let go of his building anxieties as easily as he hoped to.

He was a man on a mission, literally. He couldn't have thoughts as distracting as his were during work hours. As much as he hated work and welcomed the small distraction here and there, this wasn't cool. Axel was so lost in himself that he didn't notice how hard he was clenching his fists, or how tense in general he was. The red head let out a loud grunt and shook himself loose, moving on...

* * *

Xirena was thrilled to be sent to Wonderland again. She was determined to find those flowers and pick one up to show Axel. The dancer sprinted out of the dark corridor, followed later by Xigbar – who didn't exactly share her enthusiasm. He was another one late on waking, so he got stuck with the doofus. The scarred man yawned and stretched his arms above his head.

"What's the deal, Bubbles?" He said mid-yawn, and letting his arms fall sloppily back down to his sides.

Xirena stopped and turned to her mission partner, who stared at her with his one eye – looking rather unimpressed, even though she hadn't explained herself at all yet.

"I... I'm looking for something." She answered with an uncharacteristic lack of confidence.

"Are you?" He sneered condescendingly, "Just go get the mission done, then you can go look for whatever you want, I don't care."

"Oh ok." She nodded, "But where will you be?"

Zee had come to understand Xigbar well enough to know that he never does any work. He goes on personal missions to find the best place to take a nap, and given his high rank in the Organization, nobody seemed to care and he never suffered any consequences for disregarding his work.

"Dunno yet." He shrugged.

"Oh ok... But what do I have to do again?"

Xigbar groaned.

"Recon mission, Bubbles. There's supposedly an unexplored part of the forest so YOU gotta go check it out." He reminded her. Xigbar then shooed her with both hands, "Chop chop, get going now."

"Yes sir!" She exclaimed.

She ran off into the wild unknown of the forest, making sure to look for those flowers as she went. Zee planned on going back to where she found them originally – if they were gonna be anywhere, it'd most likely be there – but like Xigbar said: the mission comes first. Xirena was determined to get it done as fast as possible, but kind of neglected to ask Xigbar WHERE she had to be searching. With no idea where to go, the time spent on work just increased. Xirena grew more and more frantic as she went deeper into the forest, parts of the world she herself hadn't been to yet... the fear of the unknown was slowly and steadily rising within her.

She didn't slow down, in fact her anxiety just fueled her as she ran... and with no knowledge of the forest beyond the few spots she'd visited, she REALLY didn't know where to go – everything was new and yet to be explored to her – she had no clue where the mission objective was hidden.

Fatigue slowly began to take her at this point, Zee knew she should stop and take a break for a moment. But she ended up stopping much sooner than she anticipated...

BAM!

Xirena had impacted something and went tumbling across the ground, but it happened so fast that she didn't see what it was. It couldn't have been a rock, she surely would have seen that. Face down in the dirt, the poor girl was filthy after the unexpected rolling across the ground. Dirt and dust clung to her clothes and hair, with a patch of it on her cheek. She carefully sat up and looked around – her vision was blurred, but she saw a purple blob a few feet away from her. She blinked over and over to get the clarity of her vision back, the figure getting clearer and clearer as she did...

"A... monkey?" She murmured.

Yes, a purple monkey, somewhat larger than a "normal" simian – but other than that, there wasn't anything fantastical about the little guy. It's head bobbed up and down, back and forth – with his long tail almost matching his head movements. The monkey cooed quietly and started to approach Xirena.

"Are you who I tripped over?" She asked.

She swore the monkey nodded, but this creature seemed a lot less sentient than Sunny was. Regardless of whether his nod was a true response or not, he was indeed what Xirena tripped over. He had run out of the bushes and right into her path, somehow evading harm unlike the one who he tripped. Perhaps it was the animal's  _lack_  of self awareness is why Xirena felt like she was communicating with him. The animal suddenly looked to the left and went stiff and quiet, so of course Xirena followed along. The two were staring at a wall of thick reeds that were as tall as your average tree – there was nothing apparently remarkable, surely the monkey must know something Xirena doesn't. The purple monkey quickly glanced back at Xirena and then darted into the sea of reeds.

Xirena stood up, disregarding her filthiness, and without a thought chose to follow this animal. She stepped in front of the giant plants, forcing her hands between them and parting the reeds enough to pass through. She followed the sound of rustling ahead of her, which she was convinced was due to her monkey friend. It was no easy task edging her way through this thick wall of reeds, and as they went deeper it got darker and darker. Fear brewed within her again, but Xirena trusted her unseen guide. Then, a faint blue light appeared beyond the reeds, getting brighter and brighter the closer she got. After a few minutes, Xirena clumsily stumbled out of the reeds.

This place, it was so dark that it had to be some kind of cave. A very nicely hidden cave, what with all the plant-life guarding it. The source of the blue light was now clear to her; on the other side, the opposite wall of the cave, were what looked like a bunch of butterflies all grouped together. Xirena's eyes lit up with curiosity, completely eliminating any fear left in her. Eyes straight forward, she made her way to the butterflies – which seemed to stir once she got close. The girl stopped a respectable distance away, not wanting to scare them off. But these butterflies were intrigued by this new visitor, evident when three of them broke away from the group and fluttered her way. These shining blue butterflies were of a different size – much like the monkey – bigger than average. Bigger than a hand, possibly the size of a face, it was hard to estimate. The blue light of their wings reflected in Xirena's red eyes, who reached out her hand to invite one closer.

"Woah..." She marveled as one of the butterflies landed and rested on her wrist, "I gotta bring Axel here..."

It seemed like nothing could destroy the utter peace within this cave, Zee liked it a lot. Xirena stared at the bright butterfly on her wrist with happiness, but then...

A sharp sound rang through the cave and the butterfly that had engaged Xirena burst apart. Xirena stumbled backwards and covered her mouth with both hands, mortified. The rest of the colony quickly dispersed, flying into the walls and disappearing into them – taking most of the cave's light with them. The remains of the one butterfly laid on the hard ground in front of Xirena, and she couldn't take her eyes off them.

"So this is the place!" A familiar voice said loudly, "Good work, Bubbles. You did something right for a change!"

Xirena spun quickly and saw Xigbar standing there with one of his guns in hand. Zee may not be too bright, but she could put two and two together in this situation...

"W-Why did you do that?" She said, her voice breaking a tiny bit.

"Eh." Xigbar shrugged, "Thought it was a Heartless. I guess."

Zee was too overcome by this loss to hear Xigbar chortling to himself – that man knew very well it wasn't a heartless. The satisfaction he got from killing a harmless creature in front of the sensitive girl would keep him alive for at least a week.

"Ok, you can go do whatever lame thing you wanted to do now or whatever. I'm going home."

She wasn't interested in replying, or acknowledging him at all. What she "felt" in that moment was awful, it was like when Axel said they had to get rid of Sunny, but with some difference to it.

"Maybe... the flowers will make me feel better..." She murmured softly, her eyes still fixed on the smoking remains.

Xirena tore herself away from it by closing her eyes and turning around quickly, only opening them once she was sure she had shifted enough to avoid the sight of the slain butterfly. She took a deep breath and made her way out of the cave to begin her search for the one thing that could make this all better: the Starlight Roses.

* * *

Just as he said he would, Xigbar abandoned his mission partner to go home alone. He fully intended to not deal with anyone's bullshit and just go straight to his mini-fridge, grab the vodka and celebrate his maliciously wonderful day. He had a rather long way to walk down the residential hall, having to pass everybody else's room to reach his own. In his path he saw Axel and Saix talking to each other, and got the impression they were about to wrap up and go there separate ways. Xigbar had no interest in getting caught in a lecture from Saix (especially considering he pulled a Bart Simpson with some cherry bombs the other day and flooded the berserker's bathroom...) But just as he was about to take his journey to the ceiling, he was spotted – and with a look of purpose too. But this gaze didn't come from Saix, no, it was Axel. Saix had chosen to walk away down the same way Xigbar was going, he didn't pay any attention to the freeshooter.

That Axel though, he sure looked like he had something to say.

"Shut up." Xigbar commanded preemptively, just as Axel was opening his mouth to speak.

"Where is Xirena?" Axel said sternly, totally ignoring Xigbar's attempt at dispelling a conversation.

"Eh?" Xigbar stopped and a soured look crossed his face, "What makes you think I know where Bubbles is?"

"I know she was your mission partner today, and she's clearly not back yet..." Axel trailed off, looking off to the side and breaking eye contact.

"The hell, man? You her stalker or something?" Xigbar shot back quickly.

"You shut up!" Axel fired back, snapping his head to stare down Xigbar again. He didn't foresee himself to go from zero to sixty like that...

"Wow,  _real_  mature." Xigbar said with an evil smile, pulling an aggravated huff out of Axel, "She's still doing whatever."

"'Doing whatever?' What does that even mean?" Axel probed.

Xigbar shrugged – that evil grin never leaving his face.

"She didn't say." He spoke. Axel didn't believe him and scoffed, "Really dude, I'm actually telling the truth. Ask her yourself when she gets back."

Axel grunted yet again, trying to release his frustration in the most civilized manner he could.

"Fine." Axel spat, moving to leave.

"What? No 'thank you?'" Xigbar taunted as the red head passed by him.

Everything was coming up Xigbar that day, and just as he thought it couldn't get any better, an idea struck him...

"Yo Ginge." Xigbar called.

Axel felt it was best to just ignore him, but against his better judgment his feet planted themselves on the floor. He looked over his shoulder.

"What is it now?" He asked, clearly annoyed.

"So... how did you know I was partnered with Bubbles today anyway?" Xigbar began, "You left before us, and got back before us as well obviously."

"I heard from Saix." Axel simply answered, willing to turn and face his fellow worker now.

"You mean you asked him, right?" Xigbar laughed, crossing his arms, "I'm sure he was happy to share that info, I bet he just  _loves_ that gal!"

"Yes, I asked him. What difference does it make?" Axel asked.

"Big difference! Was he happy to share?"

"I don't have time for this..."

Axel was turning to get the hell out of there now, so Xigbar jumped to the main point of his mind game.

"I know who she is." Xigbar spoke, very calmly, "And I'm pretty sure Mr. Moonlight does too."

Axel did his best to resist, but with that little tidbit dropped on him he couldn't just walk away with the burning curiosity he felt. He spun back around and walked quickly with long steps back to Xigbar.

"What are you getting at, old man?"

" _I'm not old._ " Xigbar sneered through gritted teeth, then regained control, "BUT I'm just saying I could tell you a thing or two about the kid."

"You're surprisingly charitable today." Said Axel.

"Yeah whatever," Xigbar dismissed, "But think about it for a second... we picked her up in the ruins of Hollow Bastion... She came to us with an erased memory, didn't someone else here have that problem too? Hmm?"

Axel was taken aback, and he almost slipped out of his poker face with these revelations. He didn't know where she came from, it never came up in conversation, but if that's where she was found... that would mean her home world was Radiant Garden, just like himself – and everyone else in the Organization, right? No-one had come from anywhere else but Radiant Garden, so it would make sense. But whatever Xigbar was getting at with the memory point is what Axel got hung up on here. In his mind he scanned through the rest of the members, because surely there was no-one or nothing else relevant to this unraveling story.

He couldn't figure it out. Everyone was just fine when they got recruited in terms of remembering who they were, but the answer lies where Axel didn't even consider.

Xemnas.

That look of sudden realization flew onto Axel's face – Xigbar laughed loudly. But what could possibly connect their mysterious leader and the naïve young lady? His mind then jumped back to the brief mention of Saix aka 'Mr. Moonlight' as Xigbar referred to him. This screwed with his mind even more – surely if he knew her and lived in Radiant Garden, Axel had to have crossed her path at least once, he was sure he'd remember seeing someone with purple hair running around.

"Moonie may be clued in, but he doesn't know  _nearly_  as much as our fearless leader does," Said Xigbar, then added in a quieter and more sinister voice, "He... just doesn't know it yet, you could say."

"What does  _that_ mean?" Axel asked, Xigbar shrugging and grinning like an asshole again as he held his shrug.

"Hey man, what makes you think I know everything?" Xigbar cackled.

"Well you're acting like you do!" Axel shot back, his frustration with Xigbar rising.

"Hmm maybe..." Xigbar kept taunting, "Who knows? Maybe even MORE of us know stuff about the lady of the loons!"

"Tch." Axel scoffed, "I'm not gonna play your little immature mind games."

It took considerable focus to take the high road and end this juicy exchange, but secretly he hoped that his feigned indifference would be a good method of reverse psychology to get Xigbar to spill more. But Xigbar was smarter than that – far smarter.

"Aight, BYE." He said obnoxiously, and ditched Axel.

Axel wasn't totally surprised by the response, but that didn't change the fact that he was 100% irritated now. He chose to go back to his room, which was his plan anyway, but decided against a nap. He was too wired to sleep now, which was so strange to him. Instead, he thought a nice, hot shower would do him good.

* * *

With hair still dripping and a towel over his shoulders, Axel exited his bathroom – feeling at peace once more. But the poor guy didn't get even a moment to himself – after he absorbed the serenity for a second, he heard a loud knocking at his door. He was mostly dressed, up to the pants and shirt, but he quickly threw his coat on; not bothering to zip it up, but wanting to look as acceptable as he could with as little effort as possible. He adjusted his hair and towel so they sat on the outside of the coat. Dragging his feet to his door, Axel reached out and slowly opened up the door.

There on the threshold was the "lady of the loons" with her fist raised up, looking like she was about to start knocking again if he hadn't answered.

"Oh, hey Z-" He began, but he paused as he took in her appearance, " _Yikes_. What happened to you?"

Xirena was of course still dirtied up from her mishaps on her mission earlier. Sunny then wiggled up over Xirena's shoulder, so it was clear she had gone back to her room first but didn't bother to fix herself up.

"Huh?" She asked, having momentarily forgotten her appearance, "Oh... I tripped over a purple monkey and fell on the ground and got all dirty."

"Heh. A purple monkey?" Axel snickered, "Was he looking for a dishwasher or something?"

Nothing. Not even a smile. Xirena's face was unchanged after Axel had dropped his bomb of a joke.

"...Oh ok." Was all Xirena could say after a painful silence.

_That was absolutely the worst thing I've ever said_ Axel thought.

"Oh never mind, forget about it!" He tried to laugh it off, "You down to hang out?"

Xirena nodded her head rapidly. Axel stepped aside and motioned for her to enter, and Xirena happily accepted this offer. Axel closed the door once they were both inside... but he wasn't quite sure what to do, she couldn't just hang around with dirt all over her. It wasn't so much on her body, just the bits on her face and in her hair, what with their clothes covering almost every inch of them. And even then, it was just the coat that took a beating, and that could easily be taken care of. With all this in mind, Axel was ready to kick things off.

"Hey, if you want you can use my bathroom to wash your face." He suggested.

"Oh ok." Xirena nodded, "I'll go do that now if that's ok."

"Yeah no problem, go ahead." He assured her.

Xirena flashed a quick smile and ran off to the bathroom, which was still all steamed up from his recent shower. This wasn't much of a big deal for Xirena, as she went in and shut the door behind her without any hesitation.

Xirena shrugged her shoulder, and Sunny appeared. Zee nodded towards the floor and the blue pig gracefully leaped from her shoulder and landed safely on the floor. Xirena then unzipped her coat and wiggled out of it, tossing it on the floor, careful not to throw it on top of Sunny. Surely she would be smart enough to dodge it even if she was in danger of being drowned in the thick black fabric. Zee started to shake her hands wildly to shed off her filthy gloves, but even under them her hands were for some reason a little busted up... Now she was down to her second layer, the under shirt tank top, form-fitting pants and her scuffed up boots.

_Gosh, Axel seems really nice. I wonder why Rex doesn't want me to be friends with him._ Xirena thought as she continued her washing up.

She pivoted to face the sink, above which a still slightly foggy mirror was. Her image was distorted by the condensation lingering on the mirror, which was fading all too slowly. Regardless she turned on the water, choosing to wash her hands first. She thoroughly scrubbed them with soap under the running water and once satisfied, she went on to wash her face. With a little soap lingering on her hands, she cupped them under the faucet to gather up some water. Xirena lowered her head and splashed her face with the semi-soapy water. She rubbed and rubbed, wanting to be sure she was squeaky clean – well, save for her hair, but she could just take a shower and wash it later on.

She rinsed off any bubbles of soap with another splash of clean water. Xirena leaned on the sink with her hands firmly gripping both sides for stability; hypnotized by the droplets of water that rolled off her face and fell into the sink. But she wasn't done fixing herself up, so this was just a momentary break in the action. In truth, she didn't know where to look for what would move the process along, so the pause was partially to gather thoughts...

Back outside, Axel had taken to his bed to rest in a casual pose: on his back, hands behind his head, with legs bent and one crossed over the other – his dangling foot bobbing ever so slightly. Before getting into bed though, he fixed his coat so it was properly zipped up, and he used that towel to dry off his hair as much as he could. It was still wet, but his red hair was starting to gain it's usual body back, but still rendered limp by the remnants moisture holding it down. Axel took this time to empty his head and just let go, surrender his mind to absolute relaxation – after all, with Zee around he has to use more of his brain than usual to make up for the deficit there.

After about five minutes, he heard his pal emerge from the bathroom. Axel sat up quickly and saw Xirena standing there with her trusty pet at her side. He quickly took notice of how she had shed her coat and gloves, and he swore he noticed something weird on her hands...

"I used some of your band-aids, I hope you're not mad." Zee bluntly blurted out.

That's what it was! She put band-aids on her hands, but for what purpose?

"No, I'm not mad..." He responded, "Why'd you need em, though?"

Xirena and Sunny sauntered out of the bathroom and over to Axel. He could vaguely see the discarded coat laying on the floor in there. Not a big deal right now.

"My hands got a little cut up." She admitted.

"Eh? How's that?"

"Well..." A troubled look crossed her face. Zee looked at the floor and went and sat down there, in front of Axel's bed. Axel was going to protest, but Zee had already begun her story, "I wanted to find those flowers, so I went to where that rose bush was and I started looking through them... It was easier with my gloves off."

"PAUSE." Axel shouted, and Xirena jumped a little, "First of all, get up off the floor Zee... why not just sit on the edge of the bed?"

"Oh ok." She responded, hopping back up and then situated herself on the edge and sat with an absolutely straight posture.

"Second of all... Are you telling me you were sifting through a rose bush with your bare hands?" He asked, but he already knew the answer, confirmed by Xirena's sheepish nod, "Don't you know that they have thorns?"

"Um... Well, I do now!" She replied, "So those pointy things are called thorns..."

She repeated it to herself to burn it into her memory, and the fact that they left a physical reminder would ensure she'd never forget about this.

"So that's why you needed the band-aids..." Axel murmured, looking to her hands that were folded in her lap... It looked like she might have overdid it with how many bandages she had used, but he hadn't seen the cuts or anything so he couldn't really know, "Well, just be more careful next time."

"I will..." Xirena frowned. Axel furrowed his brow.

"What's with that face?" He asked with a slight laugh.

"I didn't find them." She said as she looked over to her companion, "I had to get one, I had to show you that they ARE real!"

Oh no. So this was all HIS fault by extension.

"Zee... You don't have to beat yourself up over just some silly roses. It's not a big deal." He assured her.

"Oh ok..." She said, brushing some of her hair behind her ear, "I'll find them one day though... I promise I will."

"Well don't do it because of me." Axel said sternly, "Making me feel all guilty and st-"

His words cut out as he realized what he just said. That word again – that emotion – guilt. Here he was back at square one yet again, denying himself and fighting his subconscious. This all made him flashback to something he had said earlier in their friendship...

" _Xirena, you're a disaster waiting to happen."_

Although this wasn't so much of a disaster, Axel couldn't help but wonder how much his words would be proven true in the days forthcoming.

Xirena suddenly felt a chill run up her spine. She shivered and sunk into her body, crossing her arms to hold herself. Axel noticed and raised an eyebrow as he sat up.

"Cold?" He asked simply. Xirena nodded in response.

"Just a little... I don't know why." She added.

Axel thought for a moment about what he could do to remedy this, trying to avoid any hints of creepiness. The best idea quickly presented it to himself though, and it was both amusing as much as it would be effective.

"You could try one of my spare coats." He suggested, the amusement in his voice hardly contained.

Xirena looked to his dresser – she didn't think it was a bad idea, so she hopped up and walked over to it, with Sunny ghosting her steps. She opened it up and pulled out one of Axel's spare coats. She held it up in front of herself, then switching to holding it against her body as she tried to get an idea of the fit. Without a whole lot of thought, she put the coat on. She practically was drowning in fabric until her head poked out of the top. She struggled with the zipper, only getting it about halfway before abandoning the task. Happy enough, she turned to Axel – arms held out so that the size of it was accentuated even more. He was snickering, this looked just as absurd as he had hoped – if not more.

"Any better?" He asked.

"Yeah," Xirena spoke, looking down at herself, "I can't see my feet though..."

Axel laughed yet again, but more openly so now.

"Man I knew it'd be big..." He said, "But I didn't think I was  _that_  much bigger than you."

"Yeah, you're a big guy Axel!" Xirena affirmed, laughing as well.

As her giggles died down, the gaping window above Axel's bed stole her attention – that emptiness had such harrowing effect on her. Xirena's wistful stare out the window eventually caught Axel's attention.

"You... see something or... something?" He asked slowly.

Xirena shook her head, but her longing gaze never strayed from the black sky.

"What if..." She began, a weak smile trying to make itself seen, "What if we just pretend we have stars?"

"Zeeeeeeeeeeee..." Axel slurred, "Even if we did get those flowers, I don't think that would work."

Xirena finally turned to face him and shook her head.

"No, not for the flowers, but to make wishes!" Xirena added. She began to explain without any prompt needed, "Zexion started reading Pinocchio to me last night, and he said in the movie version they added a part about wishing on stars. I thought that was really cool! But it's not in the book... But Zexion said the 'theme of a wish coming true' is there."

Of all the ideas he'd heard in his life, Axel hadn't met with one like this. It was pure silliness, but somehow endearing – which was a pretty good way to describe Xirena herself too. The brief period of silence after her explanation felt like an eternity for the red head, but it really didn't take him that long to decide what he thought of her idea.

"...Hey, why not?" He said with a shrug, "Wouldn't hurt to try, eh?"

Xirena's teeming glee was radiating from her so powerfully that it was almost palpable. She hurried back over to his bed, careful not to trip over the dragging fabric. Without hesitation she climbed on and sat in front of the window on her knees, placing her palms flat down on the sill. Axel inched closer, but while Zee had her eyes out the window, he kept his eyes on her. After a moment, Xirena inhaled deeply and opened her mouth.

"I wi-"

Axel never moved so fast in his life. He had flown right next to her and put a hand over her mouth.

"Zee!" He exclaimed, "If you say it out loud it won't come true!"

Man, he surprised himself there with how suddenly invested he got in this whole wishing nonsense. Before long he took his hand away.

"Oh... Oh ok!" She responded with sincere understanding.

Since she obviously already had something in mind, it took Xirena no time to come up with her wish. She moved her hands to grip the outer edge of the windowsill and threw her head back, arching her entire body backwards too, eyes closed and a smile on her face.

Axel watched the girl with, oddly enough, admiration. She was without a care in the world, just living in the moment – and Axel wished he could be just as carefree as his companion. As much as he put up a front of being a lazy, casual guy, he felt like he had the most burden on him at all times – there was always  _something_  he had to be putting thought into, not a whole lot of time spent goofing off. It was true that in his down time he would just go take a nap, but he always needed some extra rest with all the shit going on behind the scenes he had to worry about – and now, with all the shit in his head about this silly girl in front of him on top of it all.

Axel sat there, not knowing what he could possibly wish for... but then the light bulb appeared after just a moment of thought – he had already made a wish. He had wished to live a carefree life, not even realizing how well it fit the context of his situation. He chuckled to himself and returned his attention to Xirena. Her expression had changed, but not like she was affected by anything, just as if her jovial expression naturally fell into a relaxed face. Peaceful.

"Hey, don't fall." He warned, speaking of her back stretching pose.

"Wha?" She asked, startled.

In her surprise she accidentally let go of the window and tumbled backwards and all the way off of Axel's bed, landing on her back. Axel cursed under his breath and hopped out of bed to kneel beside her. Now she had a dazed look on her face and Sunny ran over and nudged her momma's face with her wet nose. Axel huffed with disapproval, half of with himself since he didn't act at all to help her before she fell. But despite his frustration he chose not to take a stern tone of any sort.

"Hey, you gotta stop falling all over the place when you're hanging with me." He said calmly, "The others might start to think I'm smacking you around behind closed doors."

"Oh ok..." Xirena replied.

The supreme gentleman that is Axel gently helped Xirena sit back up. Then, as if some strange connection subconsciously compelled them, both Axel and Zee turned to gaze out the window to their starless sky...


	8. Gotta Work Even Harder!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey folks, good to see you again. Good to be updating again. Updating my OTP fanfic on Valentine's day, how appropriate huh? This chapter is shorter than the last, and is a bit of a fluffy and easy read – which seems good considering the last chapter was hefty and the next one should be fun. Also, keep in mind that Rex is supposed to be an awful person as you read this chapter. Please consider liking my FB page for more frequent updates and art that goes along with this fic (along with other art). The link is in my profile!

 

**Chapter VIII: Gotta Work Even Harder!**

_So full of energy, nothing to hide,_   
_No need to sleep, we come alive,_   
_And if we're gonna take this ride,_   
_We can go wherever we like_   
_And if it feels like we're dreaming,_   
_Believe it, believe it._ **  
**

Zee bopped along pleasantly towards her room, and behind her was none other than Axel – which would be no surprise to anyone by now. Both of them had their hands full – Zee held a small bag while Axel was lugging around two sizable cardboard boxes, one stacked on top of the other. After a social night the two had decided Sunny deserved proper living arrangements. Over time they developed a list of items to acquire on the down-low, and figured out how much extra money they'd need to take in on missions to make this happen realistically. It wasn't exactly a quick or easy process, but that day here and now marked the end of their efforts. They'd gathered everything they were sure they needed.

Xirena opened up her door and lead Axel into the room. Sunny was sitting on the bed, her head perking up and tail wagging once she saw her momma return. The blue pig hopped off to make space for the Nobodies to put down everything they had brought in. Axel then dug the list out of his pocket to read off the items.

"Okay, that should do it..." He said, looking over the list, "Blankets, lots of blankets and pillows, doggie bed..."

He quietly went over the list to himself as Xirena started unpacking – pulling out the aforementioned doggie bed to start with. It was a standard, large bed that was nice and fluffy – the fabric on the bottom was dark brown, and a beige colored fabric lined the inside. It was rather understated, but it easily looked like the most comfortable one available.

"Hey Axel, you can go put the list in my desk if you need someplace to leave it!" Xirena offered, scooting across the floor and reaching under her bed.

Axel thought this was a good enough idea, so he went ahead over to her desk and pulled out the top most drawer. Inside this drawer were of course her purple charm, and also a folded over piece of paper. Axel dropped down the supply list into the sparsely populated drawer, wanting to just close it and move on; but he got a little too curious for his own good. He quickly reached in and grabbed the unknown paper, quietly unfolding it.

"Eh?" He whispered, "This is..."

A flood of confusion washed over the ginger. It was the note he had left her a while back, about the clock tower being no good anymore and to meet at home. Folded delicately in the same way he had originally, it was apparent that this note was preserved with care. But why? What would the point be? Axel figured this would be in the trash within two minutes of being read. He quickly looked over his shoulder and saw that Zee was still busy with pulling out what was under the bed – which turned out to be a comforter. He slyly slid the note back into the drawer and closed it, leaving no trace of his snooping. He did, however, choose to make conversation about her star charm.

"Hm, neat star thing you got there." Axel commented as he returned, "Where'd ya get it?"

"Dunno..." Zee shrugged, "I just kinda had it."

"I see..." Axel responded. Now that it had more mystery around it, the charm had an attractive quality to it. But really, this was something to be investigated later, if at all. Probably just a cute accessory she got somewhere – or maybe even a gift.

Sunny was watching the construction of her makeshift home with pleased anticipation. The doggy (piggy?) bed was placed at the foot of Xirena's bed, and the various blankets and pillows were placed on or around it for quick access. A small, wooden box was placed next to Zee's bed, closer to the head of the bed. This sturdy object would act as a stairway for Sunny to more safely get onto her momma's bed. Now with all the pillows and blankets for her, she could leap off the bed and land in a nice cushy place – Xirena thought that Sunny would have fun doing that.

As the pig home was coming together, Axel glanced over at Xirena's own bed. It had one pillow, a thin sheet and a slightly thicker blanket on top of the sheet.

 _The damn pig has a more luxurious set up than Zee herself..._  He thought to himself.

Next came the bowls for food and water, each of them marked as such. They were ceramic and pastel, with little piggies painted on them. More boxes. Including the ones they just brought in, were placed near the doggie bed on their sides. Zee then shifted some blankets and pillows so that they were inside the boxes, allowing even more places for Sunny to chill out and rest. She even placed two boxes on top of each other, a two floor structure!

Then, the toys... Things like slinkies, tossing toys, stuffed animals, a ball or two and some brown packing paper. More was surely to come. But Axel felt like something was missing...

"Uh, Zee?" He asked. Xirena looked over her shoulder to him, "Shouldn't we have a litter box or something?"

"Oh, no no!" Xirena shook her head, "Sunny is potty trained."

Axel was struck silent. The pig was potty trained? How? No way could this be true. As if reading his mind, Sunny jumped up and ran to the bathroom. A moment passed, and then a flush, followed by Sunny walking out of the bathroom proudly.

"Huh." Axel said, "Now I think I've seen everything."

" _Everything?_ " Xirena asked in all seriousness, turning to face Axel with wonder in her eyes.

"Zee, it's just an expression." Axel laughed, "I haven't LITERALLY seen everything."

"Oh ok." Replied Xirena.

Axel chortled, and went back to watching the birth of the pig home. Again, he compared the living arrangements of Sunny versus Xirena. Her bed wasn't the only problem though – everything about her room was still so sterile and bland. By this point in their Nobody lives, most of the members had at least started to build their décor around their personalities.

"...Hey, Zee?" Axel called out, "You could really use some stuff in here for yourself."

"Whaddaya mean?" The girl asked, taking a break from her work to properly speak with her friend.

"Well... some color... personality... fun stuff!" He explained.

"Oh... oh ok." Xirena said.

She stood up and observed the world she created for her precious pig. She nodded with satisfaction and turned to face Axel.

"Maybe we could work on that sometime too!" She suggested with cheer.

"Heh, sure, fine by me." He responded, "So..."

He strolled over closer to Xirena and Sunny's new empire. In truth he wasn't that interested in the Pig Palace though.

"Whaddaya wanna do tonight?" He asked confidently.

"Oh! Axel, I'm sorry." Xirena said, her face transforming into worry, "I promised Rex I'd hang out with him tonight... We're watching the new episode of Glee!"

 _Glee huh?_ Axel thought. In the silence, Zee had hung her head.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you before." She said, poking her fingers together.

"Huh? No, no Zee! It's fine!" Axel replied, "I'm not mad... I can't be hoggin' ya all the time anyway, right?"

The tall man gave her a soft head pat to add assurance to his words. Under his palm he felt the faintest rumble – a tiny giggle and breath of relief from Xirena.

* * *

 

"I'm a slaaaaaaave!"

Xirena wiggled in her seat.

"For youuuuuuuuuu!"

Rex sat on his bed while he had dragged over a chair so he and Xirena could both watch Glee– and boy was Zee into it. She sang along to what little she picked up of the song upon hearing it for the first time, which was pretty much just the chorus. But it was the dance numbers that attracted Xirena the most to this show.

"I love this!" Xirena squealed, clapping her hands once the performance ended.

"Yeah, I can tell." Rex replied dryly, "I'm not much a fan of Britney anymore. Yawn."

"Why not?" Xirena turned to Rex with curiosity.

"Stop talking over the show, Zee." He commanded in response – not even bothering to look back towards her.

"Oh ok." Xirena replied, obeying without question.

She in fact obeyed so well that she was quiet throughout the rest of the episode, except for the occasional singing along, Rex tolerated that at the very least. He sighed and clicking his tongue as the credits rolled.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Zee screamed.

"It was ok, considering it was an episode built on the guest star gimmick..." The gay wonder sneered.

Rexvir glanced over at Zee and saw her still grinning at the tv. He gave it a moment of thought before sliding off his bed and kneeling on the floor.

"Come here hon." He asked of Zee.

The girl got down on the ground next to Rex, who dragged a roughed-up cardboard box out from under his bed. He opened it up and inside... calling it a collection was an understatement, a treasure trove might be a more accurate description. At least to Zee it was. Inside this box was what seemed like an endless supply of pop culture items: CDs, magazines, folded up posters... all sorts of stuff that caused Xirena's eyes to sparkle with delight.

"W-What's this?" She asked, eyes locked on the box's content

"My old stuff." He answered, "There's some Britney things in there... a bunch of others, you might find some things you like."

"Wow!" Xirena exclaimed, hopping to her feet with the power of her glee, "Thank you so much Rex! My room's gonna look really cool with all this stuff!"

"Mhmm yeah hon, no problem." Rex responded. However, his charity evaporated quickly, "Ok girl, now, up on your feet. Modeling time."

"Yep yep!"

Xirena obliged happily, removing her coat as she stood up. Social fun times were over and Rex was all about his business affairs now. Rex produced his measuring tape from seemingly nowhere and got to work. He stood in front of Xirena and began to take the traditional measurements: bust, waist and hips. While he was apathetic about her bust size, he frowned and grunted in displeasure after measuring her waist.

"Hon, what did we talk about last time?" Rex said, honored by a blank stare in response by Zee, "I  _wanted_  you to shave two inches off your waist... Like, I'm not sure I even wanna  _know_  about those hip numbers now. Bet those are still the same too, hmm?"

"Umm..." Xirena hummed as she poked her index fingers together sheepishly, "Yes?"

Rex rolled his eyes and threw his measuring tape over his shoulder in frustration.

"Did you follow the diet I gave you?!" He exclaimed.

The blank stare Xirena gave him said it all though.

"I-I didn't like any of the food on there." She answered honestly.

"Hon, you will never be high fashion until your weight goes down to the double digits." He scolded.

Xirena didn't know what "high fashion" was, as Rex never really defined it. He just threw it out there constantly without explaining it – so Zee didn't know if she even wanted to BE high fashion in the first place... and Xirena forgot about his recommended diet after she tried her first rice cake. It didn't register to her why this was SO direly important to Rex, and in truth, it was totally petty and Rex deserved to be disobeyed in this situation. In fact he easily deserved a few good slaps in the face, but he luckily picked the perfect victim. While Xirena was trying to figure out what high fashion was, Rex had gone to his dresser and pulled out a book and what looked like a clump of cloth.

"Kay so, I whipped together this skirt." He explained, returning to Xirena and holding up the 'skirt.'

It was black and pink, which is a lovely color combination in general. That's all one could really say about this raggedy monstrosity though – the Frankenstein garment was blatantly unoriginal, literally two other pieces of clothing ripped apart and stitched together with the skill of a grizzly bear. He abruptly threw it at Xirena, who managed to catch it, and whipped open his book – on which the cover read: DESIGN BOOK XOXO. He'd opened to a page of a clearly traced model sketch with his skirt design poorly added to it, where he pointed at it intently.

"This is how it's supposed to look." He instructed, "Make it happen."

"Oh ok..." Xirena replied, taking a moment to study his jacked up design sketch.

The girl quickly changed out of her pants and tried sliding on the skirt. Rex watched with disapproval and judgment in his green eyes – and this was all totally okay. Rex made her change in front of him when it came to his fashion practices in case he needed to fix anything, and he assured Xirena that it was okay because he was her "GBFF." This was the least of anyone's concerns right now though – the skirt was stuck about half way up Zee's thighs and showed no sign of having any stretchy qualities. Zee didn't want to rip it, but she also didn't want to disappoint Rex... but if she ripped it by pulling it all the way up, that would ALSO disappoint Rex.

"Okay stop stop stop stop." Rex muttered, motioning for her to discard the skirt.

"Oh ok." Xirena responded, quickly taking it off.

"SIGH." Rex said dramatically as he took the garment back from Xirena, "Back to the drawing board..."

The green eyed monster tossed the now useless piece of fabric over his shoulder and examined Xirena's face critically. He clicked his tongue.

"Eyebrows." He said flatly, "We have to fix those up tonight at least."

He clicked his sharp tongue twice more and had Xirena lay down on his bed while he rushed to his bathroom to obtain his needed supplies. She laid her hands on her stomach as she laid on her back, intertwining her fingers comfortably. That "Toxic" song was stuck in her head now from the Glee episode. She also thought back on her day before she was with Rex – the quest to build a home for Sunny with Axel! She was excited to move forward now with Sunny's "furniture" moved in, and now Rex was giving her fun stuff too. It was nice to have all these people helping her out. She allowed her mind to wander specifically to Axel, the one who'd possibly shown her the most kindness of them all; the one she possibly was the most fond of. When she heard Rex approaching again, she brought up something she'd been wondering.

"Hey Rex?" She began. Rex hovered over her and waited for her to continue, "Why don't you like Axel?"

"Ugh." He groaned, moving backward to prepare the hot wax out of Xirena's view, "He's just, like, a major loser. Always making bad jokes. He's like lazy and stuff. Horrible taste in music and like everything in general. I mean, red hair? Honey just  _no._ "

Pettiness is no strange trait to Rex, and his "reasons" for disliking Axel reflected that even more. Although, one might see his words as coming from a jealous point of view, but he'd never admit it if it were true. Which is most likely was.

"Kay hon, close your eyes." He instructed.

Xirena obeyed and soon felt a warm gooey sensation spread between her eyebrows, then she felt a bit of it on her brow bone. Rex then laid the waxing strip onto the wax-covered unibrow region. With no warning, Rex ripped it off ruthlessly, and the pain immediately set in. Xirena never felt pain like it before. It burned and stung, and she could hold in her anguish no more. Her mouth shot open and she screamed at the top of her lungs – a scream that was surely heard around the castle.

She never would get her eyebrows waxed again.


	9. Embers in the Dust

**Chapter IX: Embers In The Dust**

_Every now and then the stars align_  
_Boy and girl meet by the great design  
_ _Could it be that you and me are the lucky ones?_

 

Yet again Axel was alone in his mission that day. Despite his laid back behavior, he was good at his job, perhaps one of the most qualified workers within the Organization. This didn't change the fact that going it alone wasn't exactly pleasant – Nobodies were still social creatures after all. It was boring without someone to interact with... and in truth, he wished Xirena would have been his partner on these types of days instead of it just being him – especially when one considered the other partner options. From his finished mission he returned to the castle in a pillar of darkness, emerging in the Gray Area.

He saw Xigbar, Vexen and Luxord playing poker at one of the coffee tables, but no-one else seemed to be lounging around in the common area. However, another was present, but he was far from the lounging type: Saix. He stood at the threshold of the residential hall with his cruel eyes set on the red head. Axel's already dulled expression fell further because he knew what was coming, he knew there was no way he could bypass the berserker without having to speak with him about some dry, uninteresting work-related topic.

Saix would constantly inspire complex feelings within Axel. It wasn't easy dealing with him and their work behind the scenes, it certainly wasn't easy seeing how much his friend from years ago had changed, and it wasn't easy watching him grow more and more distant... Part of him still longed for the simple days when they were kids, but the other part of him desired to move on from those bittersweet memories. Their interactions were always so strained these days, focusing always on work and nothing else. Since Saix became so close with Xemnas, Axel certainly felt like he was tossed to the side in favor of a higher power – only to be called upon for the wet work. Moving on though? That was far simple too. At least, it was previously. Now?

Xirena. That silly girl.

Axel had grown fond of her and found himself always looking forward to seeing her; to be with her was so different than anyone else he'd ever met. She captivated him, so much so that when they were together he seemed to forget all his worries... well, except the ones Zee inspired in him. She was another complex one, paradoxically so, but still a complexity.

Axel perked up at the thought of the purple haired girl, and immediately began to wonder where exactly she was. It had become almost instinctual at that point to go seek her out when she wasn't around. It could be that he just liked hanging out with her, maybe he had concerns that she'd get harassed by Xigbar or Rex; maybe she was looking for him too? He could see she was attached, and everyone else probably could too – he just hoped he didn't come off to others as being obsessed with her. Although, did it really matter what the others thought? And then there was the ultimate "concerning" reason for his searching for her...

Perhaps... there was more than just a friendship evolving between them. This was an idea Axel never cared to think about, and would discard anything close to that before it could fully formulate. They were friends. Just friends. It was way too awkward too consider anything more.

"What are you smiling about?"

Axel got so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't realize he kept on walking while wondering about Zee like a dopey dog, taking him towards and past Saix. That dull yet at the same time harsh tone only managed to slow him down than bring him to a full stop though.

"Pft. I'm not smiling!" Axel dismissed with a casual wave of his hand as he was known to do.

Saix followed Axel with his gaze, unsure what to make of the ginger blowing past him with so little acknowledgment. Ultimately, he had nothing important to say to Axel, and made no effort to stop him during his leisure time. As he strolled down the hall towards his room, he glanced at Xirena's door – which was directly across from his own.

_I wonder if she's home yet?_ He thought.

In a cosmic act of wizardry, her door swung open in the usual whirlwind fashion that it does. It was no surprise to Axel that the sweetly smiling Xirena was standing there, eyes ablaze with glee that Axel was there.

"Axel! I need you in my room!" She practically screamed while grabbing his wrist and dragging him in, "Hurry!"

_She probably could have worded that better..._

He was tossed in while Zee slammed the door shut behind them. A bit dazed, Axel didn't immediately see what the big deal possibly could be – especially to require such gusto, but then again, Zee always was very... passionate. Passion was something the castle had certainly lacked. The sound of the girl shuffling across the floor caught his ear, and her form appeared in his periphery.

"Eh?" Axel asked, "It's... a bunch of... stuff?"

On and around Xirena's bed were the items Rex had  _so kindly_  gifted to her, but weren't organized at all yet.

"Yeah!" Xirena piped up, confirming the obvious.

The violet haired girl stepped forward, twirling and humming pleasantly, careful not to run into her bed and fall on her face or accidentally step on Sunny. Axel slowly followed, craning his neck to try and get a glimpse of what all the 'stuff' was.

"Rex gave me some cool things..." She began, picking up a magazine and a CD she had left on her bed.

"Eh? You kiddin' me?!" Axel simply couldn't believe it... Rex? REX? Of all the Nobodies, Rex was easily the most selfish and petty of the bunch. When she showed him what she picked up, however, it suddenly made sense...

"Mhmm!" She nodded, holding up two of the many things she had yet to go through fully, "He said he didn't want it all anymore!"

Understanding immediately sunk in. The CD was Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, but the case was badly scratched and possibly broken. The magazine was and issue of NME, but looked as if it had been rolled up, along with it having small tears on the edges of the cover (and presumably the rest of the pages too).

"...I see!" Axel nodded, keeping an enthusiastic charade up, even though his disbelief had been slayed by the truth of the situation.

_He literally gave her his garbage._ Axel thought, shaking his head a bit. He didn't let any more than that show though.

"I was so happy when he said I could have his stuff..." She said softly as she set the magazine and CD back down into a box, "It was so nice of him, dontcha think?"

"Uhh, yeah!" Axel half-lied.

While it was shitty of Rex to dump his unwanted trash onto Xirena, there was a shred of goodness buried somewhere in this scenario... The ginger just shrugged it off – he hated wasting brain cells on Rex. It was time to take an entirely truthful and positive spin on it.

"I'm happy for you, Zee." Axel spoke in earnest, "Really, I am."

With her business with the box done, she turned back to Axel, their eyes meeting instantly as she did. A pinkish hue had spread across Xirena's face, and it looked like she was trying to keep herself from giggling girlishly.

"Thank you Axel." She responded with sincerity, her words sweeter than sugar; only surpassed in sweetness by the look on her face.

"Heh..." Axel awkwardly chuckled as he looked away, hoping to minimize the possibility of pulling a goofy face and having her see, "I'm just being honest, is all." He added, this time concluding with a more confident chortle.

Xirena suddenly felt something bump up against her leg, and the distinct sound of a pig snorting revealed that there could be only one culprit: Sunny. Xirena knelt down and scooped up her pig baby, giving her a quick nuzzle.

"Have you thought of your wish, Axel?" Xirena asked mid-nuzzle.

"Uhh..." Axel drawled, "Yeah, I think I can make something happen."

An overjoyed Xirena shifted Sunny so that she was held in just one arm, and used her now freed hand to grab Axel's. She tugged him along towards her bed so that they could be right next to the window – seeing the sky was crucial to all this, even if it was just pretend. The pair assumed their seated positions on the bed – Axel sitting to the left of Xirena, and she on his right side obviously. No matter what, they always sat in the same spots when they did their wishing, even in his room. Always Axel on the left and Zee on the right.

All fell silent as they sent their wishes out into the universe...

_Gurrrrrrrrrrglleeeeee buuuuurp_

Xirena gasped and grabbed her stomach.

"Woah! You okay?!" He asked with a tone of urgency.

"Y-Yeah..." She murmured, "I'm... just hungry. I didn't eat anything yet today..."

Xirena frowned as she rubbed her noisy stomach, avoiding Axel's gaze as she did so. Axel felt a flood of relief wash over him – the way she doubled over and grabbed her stomach made him think she was sick initially, so it was comforting to know it wasn't serious.

"Hmm...Y'know, I wouldn't mind grabbing a bite to eat myself." Axel said, pondering for a moment, before the light bulb went off, "Hey, I know! I'll treat us to some dinner!"

Xirena's eyes lit up brighter than the sun and spun her whole body to face Axel – if she had a heart it surely would have skipped a beat.

"Axel... You..." She began, fragile yet sincere, "You made my wish come true!"

"Eh?" Axel asked, "Whaddaya mean, Zee?"

"Well I was hungry so I wished for food!" Xirena explained.

Axel was amused by the simplicity of her desires – it made him wonder what else she could possibly be wishing for.

"Hm..." Axel hummed, running his hand across his stomach, "Y'know, I could go for some dinner too right about now."

Two hungry Nobodies and no food to be seen... no less a substantial meal. Axel, being the genius that he is, came to a quick solution.

"Hey Zee, you like Chinese food?" He asked. Xirena blankly stared, which was a fine reaction since Axel answered his own question without hesitation anyway, "Who am I kidding?  _Everyone_  loves Chinese food."

Xirena looked befuddled – or just downright amazed – amazed at the fact that Axel somehow knew that everyone loves Chinese food. Her eyes glazed over as her brain trying to process this grand claim.

"Don't worry, it's on me. Be right back!"

Axel then left through a dark corridor, leaving the puzzled Xirena alone yet again to begin his quest for food. Xirena remained troubled...

"What... what happens if I don't like Chinese food?!" She wailed, grabbing her hair frantically.

* * *

 

It wasn't long before Axel, armed with a bag in each hand, returned to Xirena's room. The aroma of the food wafted across the room and it hit Xirena like a mack truck – almost to the point of stunning her.

"You're gonna dig this, trust me." Axel said, setting the bags down in front of him on the floor, and proceeding to sit himself down next to them, "I even got chopsticks!"

Axel pulled out the utensils and tossed a pair to Xirena, who haphazardly caught them. Axel pulled apart the bound sticks and Xirena mimicked him, although she lacked the same finesse. She also sat down on the floor, across from Axel, watching as he opened up the bags.

"I got a bunch of different stuff, I'm sure you'll find something ya like." He explained.

Xirena watched as he produced various boxes from the brown paper bags – most of them being white and nondescript, but every so often there were tupperware-like containers amidst the flimsy white boxes. Before either of them knew it, there was an ocean of food in front of them, and Axel was finishing off the set-up by opening all the food containers. Dozens of different scents were released into the room with greater intensity than before, most of them smelling yummy.

"Okay! First of all we got white rice, plenty of white rice actually, sweet & sour chicken, beef with broccoli, crab rangoon, egg drop soup, egg rolls, sesame chicken, pork lo mein..."

Xirena started picking cautiously as Axel rambled off the list of food, choosing a non-threatening looking box of white rice. With chopsticks in hand, she held the box and tried to pick up the rice within after opening it. But to no avail. Zee's clumsy use of the chopsticks lead her to nothing but rice being dropped right back into the flimsy white box. With every attempt, she whimpered when it eventually and inevitably failed. Axel on the other hand... he was too busy shoving lo mein in his face to notice immediately.

"Sho hwhatcha theink?" He asked, mouth still full and chewing his food.

"I... I don't know..." She murmured.

Axel looked up and saw her painful misuse of the chopsticks.

Then before he himself knew it, he was on the move. Axel quickly scooted across the floor and situated himself directly behind Xirena, all the while she was oblivious. In fact, she didn't notice him until he reached his arms around her small frame, taking her hands in his.

"It's like this, Zee." He began.

He guided her hands, positioning the chopsticks properly and demonstrating how to do it. Their dual effort resulted in success – Xirena (and Axel) managed to use chopsticks.

"Think you got it now?" He asked.

"I think so!" She said happily, breaking free of him and diving into the rice.

Axel leaned back and relaxed a moment, feeling rather proud of himself with that move. His eyes wandered around her room and over to her desk... The desk. Like a strike of lightning, it hit him... that note, the note he'd slipped under her door that she'd kept. There was no other way than the direct approach to get answers to this tiny mystery...

"Zee?" He said, "Why do you still have that note I left for you about the clock tower?"

Xirena looked over her shoulder, swallowed all the food she stuffed in her mouth and fell into her thought.

"I dunno... It just seemed nice to keep it."

* * *

 

_It just seemed nice to keep it._

The echoes of Xirena danced around Axel's mind. Even though he got an 'answer' from her, it didn't really answer anything at all. It seemed not much thought was put into it other than 'it would be nice.'

Over-thinking things was something Axel needed to cut down on – same with chewing on his cheek. The two often went hand in hand. The juxtaposition of his over thinking compared to the simplistic views of Zee was maddening at times, now being a great example of it. Over a stupid note. At the same time he appreciated what a breath of fresh air she was...

Zee's face popped into his head, specifically the expression of intense joy and gratitude after he told her they would keep Sunny. Even now with that moment long gone, the memory was more than enough for him. Although that rather intimate chopstick usage position from earlier was a memory that made him feel similarly...


	10. Sky Under My Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone new joins the ranks, and is celebrated with a day off. What could everyone be up to with their free day? Let the music flow...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Woo! Hi everyone! Good to be updating again. I have to say, the pure hype for MGSV is definitely steering me back to the total remake of Shadow Runner, but for right now I'll be sparsely working on the outline while mainly continuing to focus on this story. It will be quite a departure from the original and some decisions I've made may not be popular among MGS fans, but I like to take risks. Some "spoilers" about the changes have been posted on my fanpage (link in profile) if anyone wanted some sneak peeks into the ideas going into Shadow Runner. I already got a solid intro for Chapter XI of re:AS too. Anyway, as usual, I hope everyone enjoys!

**Chapter X: Sky Under My Skin**

 

_Meet me under shining lights,_   
_I've been waiting right here all my life_   
_Feelings you can't deny that you're living, open up your eyes_   
_And I just wanna sink into your crazy laughter_   
_Come on make me feel until the pain don't matter_   
_Every second here makes my heart beat faster_   
_Finally think I found what I'm chasing after._

  

A morning it was yet again, but a morning like seldom others in the dreary Nobody homestead. Axel's eyelids hung heavily over his emerald eyes, not closed, but refusing to open to their fullest yet. Noise could be heard outside his door, just a bit away, down towards the Gray Area (which wasn't _too_ much of a shock since it was the common area). This strange new sound kept Axel bed bound – he didn't want to deal with whatever it could be, not yet... but at the same time the noise of the waking world beckoned him.

 

* * *

 

“Wow! I love your hair!”

“I don't.”

Xirena and Rex stood in front of a casual looking boy with dirty blonde hair that was cut into a strange amalgamation of styles. A mullet mixed with a pompadour mixed with shaved sides? Something like that.

“Thanks little lady!” He responded enthusiastically.

“You're welcome!” Xirena responded with equal enthuse.

Xirena and this new fella seemed to be getting along great, what with both of them being a little bit more manic than the rest of the members. One would wonder if the two forces of energy would cancel each other out, or if they would just compound on top of one another for a whole 'nother level of ALL THE TIME EXCITEMENT. Rex watched on as his gal pal and the new guy kept on conversing, almost as if Rex wasn't even there anymore. Like the catty bitch he was, he began tapping his foot and threw out some loud AHEMS here and there, trying to catch the attention back to him in a “subtle” fashion.

No dice for Rexvir.

It was already bad enough that the ginger was stealing away valuable time with his life-sized dress up doll, but now Rex had to compete with someone else too. Someone with a name he deemed stupid before he even met the new recruit: Demyx.

“You like music?” Demyx asked a bouncy Xirena.

“I do! A lot!”

“NICE! HIGH FIVE!”

The entirety of Demyx and Zee's excited chatter were little snippets like that – short, simple and to the point. And every single sentence fragment was punctuated with an exclamation point.

In the midst of Demyx raising his arm for the high five and Xirena staring at him with her confused titled head, Axel wandered out into the Gray Area to finally see what the brouhaha was about. All the others, save for Xemnas and Saix, were dotted around the lounge.

_Oh. New guy huh?_ A basic thought.

Being the semi-decent Nobody he was, he strode over to where Demyx, Rex and Zee were with a single, welcoming wave of his arm.

“Yo.” He said, “Name's Axel, number VIII.”

“Yo man, I'm Demyx! Big numbah X!” Demyx responded, “Soooo YOU'RE the guy The Zeester told me about!”

Axel shot a curious glance at Xirena, who was nodding and smiling at him. His gaze quickly returned to Demyx.

“...Zeester?” Was all Axel managed to say.

“The Zeester! Zee-mama! Zee-licious! BritZee Spears!” Demyx rattled off. 

“He's _really_ good at nicknames.” Xirena assured Axel, who's stomach suddenly fell. It took him how long to come up with a name as simple as Zee? And this chump was throwing out dumb names like he's a... a... bad nickname generator or something? Put in a penny and receive stupid sounding nickname! The worst part of it being that all the names Demyx threw out there were based on “Zee.”

“Chyeah! So hmm, Axel ey? How about AXMASTER!?” Demyx exclaimed and immediately waited for approval. 

Axel then looked over at Rex, who was predictably having the worst time of them all there. It was like he was trying to figure out which of his fashion scarves of his he wanted to hang himself with, or perhaps mentally drafting his sure to be over dramatized suicide note. 

“Okay so Axmaster it is then!” 

Demyx needed no approval but his own it seemed... Axel wanted to steer this away from nicknames. Fast. 

“So uh, why is everyone still just hanging out here?” He asked, slowly turning back to Demyx. 

“Xemnas gave us the day off to celebrate the coming of a new member. Generous, right?” Rex snidely remarked. 

Xirena's nose wrinkled up and her lips pursed. No day off was given when she joined, not that she remembered at least. Rex confirmed this with a catty glance at Zee, looking her up and down and wishing her advent brought the same cushy experience. Bitter, jealous, possessive and resentful Rex as always. 

The best theory anyone could come up with over the day off dilemma was that Xemnas had no idea how to treat women, given there were none in the Organization for a long time. When he thought about it, Axel remembered a trip to the Castle library where he found a book titled “How To Treat Women: A Man's Guide To The Mysteries Of The Female Gender” just laying around. The cover had very '50s styled art on it and looked like it was deteriorating from being so old (if the artwork was any indication of it's age). On the back of this book “PROPERTY OF XEMNAS” was stamped onto it in red ink. Yikes. 

“So what does everyone wanna do on their day off?” Demyx asked, still so eager to get to know his new pals, and digging into their personal hobbies seemed a good probe. 

“Hitting the club. Gonna spend some time with my make up kit now so BYE.” Rex announced, turning on his heel and leaving with his arms across his chest. He really wanted Xirena to be his novelty wingman, but was so arrogant that he expected her to follow without even asking her about it. 

“Ehhh more sleeping sounds good to me.” Axel spoke next. 

“Axel!” Xirena exclaimed, grabbing and tugging on his sleeve. Her tone was tinged with a lighthearted disapproval, “That's no fun! Come dance with me!” 

Axel's eyebrow shot up in confusion. Despite the blatantly obvious clue in her title as “The Dancer of Dreams” he never thought to put it together. He had “dancing” in his name and he was never one to run around town and cut a rug. 

“Zee-mama here tells me she loves to dance.” Demyx confirmed with a proud nod. 

An unfamiliar fire boiled in Axel's stomach with that comment, and blazed harder when he saw Zee smile and laugh in a kittenish manner, prompting Demyx to laugh along with her. There was no way Axel could deny he felt a pang of jealousy that this newcomer knew something about Xirena he had yet to discover... 

“That's how I gave her the BritZee Spears nickname, she loves BritBrit!” Demyx continued. 

Axel's mind flashbacked to Zee showing off the Baby One More Time CD from Rex's trash heap that she was so thankful to receive. Very vague “clues,” but clues that made sense now that he knew the outcome. With Demyx explaining what seemed like every aspect of Xirena's life at this point, the girl herself nodded along happily. 

“Rex showed me the TV show Glee and it was super cool. I liked copying the dance routines to practice.” Zee explained, finally stepping up to explain her own existence.

Then, as if on cue, Zee stepped back and daintily spun on her toes, the hem of her coat floating slightly. It was not the type of dancing Axel expected, dancing in this day and age had become more aligned with the overtly sexual booty bouncing. The way Xirena danced, however, it was full of grace. Her limbs moved with the expertise of a Russian prima ballerina, and then sharply as she moved effortlessly between different dance styles. Faster, slower, faster, slower. Simple to acrobatic. 

“I used dancing to beat a big Heartless in Wonderland.” Xirena spoke as she moved through the air like a feather, “It just kinda came natural. Then I would practice super hard too whenever you weren't around, Axel.” 

Her mind revisited one of her many nights spent with Rex: Wearing her tank top and shorts she borrowed from Rex (which lead to them being rather short and tight given her thicker frame than Rex's). She sported legwarmers and a sweatband on her head as she ferociously practiced, improvising to whatever song came on during Glee.

Axel was captivated. Demyx smirked. Xirena stopped, oddly red in the face.

“It's a little weird without music.” She giggled. 

A look of sheepish pride crept onto her face. Let's be honest, Xirena is not good at a lot of things, so her general ineptitude shoved all her greatness into dancing. When her movement stopped, silence fell. Axel was, for lack of a better word, speechless. 

“Hmm, well if Axmaster here won't join ya, I'd be jazzed to come to your dance party Zee-mama!” Demyx interjected. 

“WHAT?” Axel squawked. He didn't know he could make such a desperate sound. 

Demyx laughed and gave Axel a slap on the shoulder, way too hard at that, like Demyx couldn't control himself in _any_ way. 

“I'm just razzin' you man. That's what buddies do!” He continued laughing. 

_Presumptuous little..._ Axel thought. 

The man who Axel already had defined as “annoying” then leaned in a little closer to whisper in his ear. 

“ _Best buds help each other get the girl!_ ” He uttered with a sly grin. Axel chewed on that same spot on his cheek, trying not to audibly growl at this newbie. 

But Axel could at least take solace in the fact that Demyx was joking about dancing with her himself. Axel's thoughts on Demyx flip flopped from “presumptuous” to “annoying” to “eh he's not that bad” at a dizzying rate. 

“Come on, come on!” Xirena urged, tugging on Axel's sleeve again, albeit harder and more urgently this time. As if time was slipping away more quickly than it truly was. 

Perhaps it was.

 

* * *

  

The red and purple pair didn't return to her room, no, instead Xirena lead Axel deep into the Castle. Down some stairs, through narrow halls, until they stood before large and tall double doors. Xirena raised her right hand up to the door, where it began to glow purple. The crack that separated each door glowed the same color and opened up. The two entered a huge, mostly empty room with a hard wooden glossy floor. Not only was it expansive in width, but the ceiling was high too. Just. BIG. Large speakers were present, and what you might call a 'station' for setting up music stood against a distant wall. Axel could only assume the largeness of the room was to make sure the acoustics were good, as well as to have a safe enough space to flail around in. Xirena skipped over to the music station and Axel followed. 

Axel hovered behind Xirena as she fiddled around with her music. He heard her hum unfamiliar tunes to herself, as if she was shuffling through a mental playlist. Xirena let out a satisfied squeak and straightened up her back, and with CD in hand she excitedly placed it in the disc reader. Her hands were shaking with such frenzy that she nearly dropped the disc. A few button pushes later, ambient beats started to flow from the speakers that dotted the room. Xirena slowly turned around, much different than the fervor she usually moved with. Her smile was shy, as if she were nervous, despite her having spoken of her talent and how she briefly showed it off.

Eyes met: red and green – and suddenly the room was golden. 

_I had a way then, losing it all on my own..._

Both stepped forward in unison with the beats guiding them. Xirena extended her hand to her dance partner, whom gently grasped it. The touch of his hand enveloping hers sent a shock wave through her body, causing her to visibly shiver. With the lead up to the chorus, she took a few small steps sideways, and then started to pull backwards...

_You show the lights that stop me_  

Quick as a whip on the bumpin' bass beat, Xirena twirled and spun up against Axel by her own lead. 

_Turn to stone, you shine it when I'm alone_  

With equal speed she spun herself away from him. Semi-stunned, Axel just stood and watched her. Xirena wasn't just listening to a song and dancing along, she was feeling the song. Deep in her soul not just the words, but the beats and all sorts of rhythm resonated and produced something that was an ascension from just a regular dance. The emotion her face and body were expressing was something Axel never had seen before. 

_'cause they're calling..._  

More beats kicked in, heavier than the ambient ones that laid under it. Her hips popped from side to side on each one with such amazing precision and she ran her hands through her hair, and then dragged them down her face and torso. Her knees started to bend and she slowly moved towards the floor. The chorus was about to end. 

_You shine it when I'm alone_  

The strong emotion broke when the next verse kicked in, and Zee hopped up and over to Axel and pulled on his hand. 

“Come on!” She urged, “Just let yourself go.”

To just 'let go' was easier said than done for the ever stressed Axel, but if there was ever a time and place, it had to be now. 

Xirena's eyes lit up when he followed her lead without hesitation. Now that was Axel with her, her eyes closed and rolled back as she melted back into the song. Axel was of course nowhere near a professional dancer, so all he could do was try to imitate her when he could and just throw himself around, he was best able to move with the least awkwardness when they were close together, hand in hand... In these moments, Zee was 'present,' but as soon as they would part, the music took her back over. Grand battements, pirouettes, feet tapping, floor slapping, hair toss, rolling... it was all so intense, varied and raw. 

Axel soon found himself pursuing her. He'd playfully chase her as she would twirl just out of his reach, and they'd both laugh like idiots. He'd eventually catch her every time though, because she let him. 

“Gotcha!” He exclaimed as he came up behind her and grabbed her by the waist with both arms. His adrenaline pumping lead him to lift Xirena into the air dramatically. 

The current song ended, with neither of them too sure about how many songs they'd danced to, but their limbs were tired, their brows covered in sweat as they breathed heavily. Axel felt himself stumbling backwards as his adrenaline started to fall, and before he could issue a warning, he fell backwards onto the floor and brought Zee down with him leaving them sprawled in a clumsy heap. 

“Next time... maybe we should... take our coats off...” Axel heaved. He heard Xirena let out an unintelligible noise of agreement. 

After taking a moment to catch their breath, the two sat up and nodded at each other.

“I'm betting you really kicked that Heartless' ass if that's how you fought him.” Axel noted with a grin. 

“I had Zexion's help and all too.” She corrected, giving credit where credit is due.

“Haha... Aw come on now, Zee. Seems like you helped him more than he helped you.” 

“T-Thanks, Axel...” Xirena replied, drawing her knees to her chest tightly, rocking back and forth. Another song had come on, but Axel and Xirena were too tired and lost in their own world to really notice it. 

 

_Cause you always want what you're running from  
_ _And you know this is more than you can take_

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter XI: In The Hardest of Hearts

**A/N:** HI EVERYONE YOU ARE ALL WONDERFUL :"D be sure to check my fanpage for art and more updates.

 

**Chapter XI: In the Hardest of Hearts**

_Let's make this fleeting moment last forever_   
_So, tell me what you're waiting for?_   
_I'm gonna keep it frozen here forever,_   
_There's no regretting anymore._

_It's worth the wait, even so far away._   
_I'm making the night mine until the day I die_   
_No lights to brake when you're hanging by fate_   
_You know what it feels like when you're dancing blind_

The pair of exhausted Nobodies dragged their feet back to the residential hall, with Axel looking visibly more beat than Xirena. She _was_ actual dancer of the pair after all and maintained more endurance than even The Flurry of Dancing Flames. Despite their weariness, however, they both were rather happy with how their evening had gone.

"I had..." Axel panted, "A lotta fun."

"Me too." Xirena breathed.

Xirena stopped at her door with Axel behind her, opening it up for the two to enter. They had wishing to do after all! Axel turned and closed her door, but once he came to face Xirena again he was hit with one of the most unexpected things of his life.

Xirena had thrust herself forward with her arms out, knocking whatever wind was left in him out of Axel, which wasn't much. When she collided with him, her arms instantly clung around him and held tightly. Her face nuzzled into his chest. Axel's body and mind froze up, as if he was a computer that encountered a critical error and suddenly shut down...

 _THIS IS WHERE YOU HUG BACK,_ Axel's mind screamed at him, _THIS IS WHERE YOU HUG BACK._

He was short circuiting so hard that instead of doing that, his hand moved up to her head and gave her a pat as he thought those very words.

_THERE'S STILL TIME TO HUG BACK_

Just as he was about to morph into a proper hug, the speedy Zee had pulled away just as suddenly as she dove in, smiling bright as ever. He had his arms spread away from him slightly as he prepared his delayed hug, feeling dumb, but he managed to smoothly move into a casual shrug, hoping to convey that he had a good time with their evening with that gesture. Now that all their frantic moving had stopped and he had a close look at her face, he noticed something... different...

"Heeeeeey..." He said slowly, leaning in for a closer look, "I can't figure it out but something on your face is... different."

"Oh..." Xirena breathed somberly, "Rex ripped part of my eyebrows off the other night."

"Christ!" Axel shouted, his ever-spazzing arms flying into the air, "I can't believe him sometimes, well, I can't believe him most of the time actually..."

"He said I gotta lose weight too and be 'high fashion.' I don't know what that means but Rex wouldn't do any bad things to me, right? I'm never letting him rip my eyebrows off again though... well, unless he has a good reason to!"

Axel was left speechless. Talking about Rex was just the worst.

"Oh! Axel!" Xirena exclaimed. Axel hoped she was done talking about the abysmal being known as Rex, "We almost forgot, we gotta go make our wishes!"

* * *

Peace and quiet was what filled their wish time, almost like a prayer. It may be brief, but the hyper activity that can come with Xirena made these moments extra special. As with many sweet things, the time of wishing was always short, with both of the Nobodies looking to rest after a night of party time fun dancing. Axel yawned widely and stretched his arms as he stood up, ready to leave Xirena's room and hit the hay.

"You gave me quite the work out, eh?" He joked as his arms fell back limply, "I'll need to do that more often and catch up to ya."

"Hmmhee..." Xirena giggled, "Maybe that's what I wished for!"

"Hey!" Axel scolded playfully, "Now it won't come true!"

"No! I only said 'maybe!' So it doesn't count, right? And it doesn't count as a lie either! Rex taught me that the word 'maybe' can be really helpful."

She punctuated this 'profound' statement with an affirming nod. At this point all Axel could do was laugh, a tired yet sincere one.

"Right then, right." He agreed with a smile and a head pat, "Well... I best be on my way. G'night."

"Night!" Xirena called as her friend turned and began to walk towards her door, watching him all the way.

Oddly, each step Axel took further and further away from Xirena got heavier than the last, and with each heavy step came a downward tug in his chest. He took a swift nibble at that spot on his cheek again once his hand touched the knob of the door, hesitating.

"Zee?" He half turns.

"Huh?" She responds softly.

Axel had something to say and was desperate to get it out there. He watched as her head tilted slowly and his thoughts fought a futile war against one another. Axel had strong feelings burning up inside himself, too strong to deny anymore and as much as he wanted to shout what he thought to the high heavens right now, the divide between his passion and the frailty of Xirena was a tough thing to reconcile. How would she react? Or overreact rather... They both had something, Axel could feel it, but Xirena was still far out of touch with such heavy emotions that ultimately, he remained silent. But exit, he did not.

Axel quickly strode back over to Xirena and pulled her into a tight hug, one so tight she had the wind forced out from her a bit from it, just like she squeezed all the breath from him moments ago. Like Axel, she was surprised, but unlike Axel, she was in-tune enough to react appropriately. Xirena put her arms around her friend with care and gave a squeeze and Axel did the same. Axel now is the first to pull away, but keeping his hands on her shoulders and eyes locked tighter than any precious treasure chest could be. He swallowed hard and was getting ready to double back on his internal conflict before, but resisted once more.

"...Good night, Xirena." He finished quickly, turning on his heel and shuffling out the door like a nerd.

Xirena blinked several times, as now she was the one who was shocked with a hug.

"He was acting kinda... I dunno." She said to herself, "Axel, he's... he's just so nice to me."

A smile spread across her face like a butterfly spreading it's wings when she thought of him, and her chest fluttered like a monarch in flight. Xirena skipped to her bed, where Sunny had been impatiently waiting for her to FINALLY come to bed. Sunny was mock-gagging the whole time during that whole mushy gushy Axel nonsense, but it was behind Xirena's back and Axel was far too preoccupied to notice the damn pig making fun of him.

"Isn't he nice, Sunny?" Xirena asked as she laid down next to her pig, "He really is, isn't he? I like him the best out of everyone here... The best..."

* * *

Friends lost, friends gained, some transient, some for the long run... that's how the world goes, doesn't it? Some friends feel like forever yet end on a foul note, others come in and out without nearly as much pain involved. Axel already had experience with losing a long term friend for what seemed like petty reasons in retrospect now, but gained someone new. What was it that stopped Axel from telling Xirena what was on his mind last night? Was there a lingering fear that she could be an in-and-out transient? They had dangerous jobs and all, she or he could very well die on any given field mission they went on... and it's not like they were together for every mission to look out for each other.

And today was one of those days.

"Gosh Axmaster! I didn't think you were sucha quiet dude!"

Long run friends, transient friends and then the ones you're not sure about yet... that one being Demyx.

"Not much to say." Axel answered simply, "Just showing you the basics of it all isn't too hard, eh?"

"Well I guess you're right! But I hoped maybe we could get all buddy-buddy and be buds! You seemed like a pretty chill dude so far, but now I've gotya here alone and you're like a boring old man or something." Demyx responded.

"Hey!" Axel snapped, turning to Demyx, " _I am not a boring old man._ "

"Heh, struck a nerve?" Demyx teased. Axel's eyebrow noticeably twitched, "Hey! Hey! I'm just joshin' ya brah!"

"Ok whatever." Axel said shortly.

Twilight Town was almost always the go-to place for basic training. It was easy to tell which areas Heartless spawned in and which were generally "safe" zones where they'd choose not to attack. In fact there was a musty old alley with a couch in it where they never appeared. Axel and Xigbar would know, they've taken naps there on that couch on more than one separate occasion. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable experience but it was something if they needed a break...

Axel lead Demyx to a sandlot that never saw too much human activity and waited for a Heartless to pop up, which never took too long. A little group of 3 Shadows appeared in front of them and Axel apathetically pointed at them with a grunt, a signal for Demyx to summon his weapon... a blue sitar that evoked a sense of watery qualities. With a few bashes and strums of the strings, the Heartless were taken care of.

"Welp, guess we got a natural talent here." Axel said dryly.

"Think we can get home early?!" Demyx exclaimed.

Axel liked that idea. He loved in in fact.

"Hell yeah we can! I already went over what we do in the Organization and all that, plus Zexion or Vexen will end up telling you more details anyway. They're the 'smart' ones and all." He spat out with speed.

"Mad cool!" Demyx yells with a bit of a hop.

"Alright, alright let's get outta here." Axel says, immediately summoning a corridor.

"Man you're peppy all of a sudden..." Demyx observed, "Happy as all heck to get home... Compared to being antisocial like you were earlier... I mean, when your girl was around you were in a bit of a better mood than this!"

Axel had what felt like a full-on brain spasm.

_This kid I swear..._

"Hah! I knew it!" Demyx screamed, then rapidly poked at Axel's chest with both hands, "It's The Zeester, isn't it? You wanna get home and see her!"

"What?" Axel barked, "I'm just a lazy jerk is all, I don't have any..." He lied, well, partially. He was pretty lazy after all.

"You two are practically glued to each other!" Demyx said with devilish glee, "When she's with you, she's a total puppy."

"Oh come the hell on, you're reading too deep into... into nothing!" Axel insisted.

This was an unnecessary argument waiting to happen. Or, it was kind of already happening, wasn't it?

"Then what IS the deal then?" Demyx spoke forwardly, leaning in like an obnoxious douche, which wasn't too effective since he was shorter than Axel like many Organization members were. But did Demyx care? Nope.

"THERE IS NO DEAL." Axel shouted.

"Pfft sure." Demyx dismissed Axel's anger, "I notice how you look at her too... She's not the only puppy around."

Axel's face was turning red from embarrassment at this point. He only could have hoped that his attraction wasn't so blatant, but Demyx shot that delusion down. Did everyone figure it out already? Is it just Demyx? Rex probably has an idea of it too since he spends the second most amount of time with Zee and one can only imagine what they talk about together...

Or did Xirena herself already know to a greater extent than expected? He was sure she had feelings for him, but did she know it was mutual? Like he had thought earlier, these feelings were ones she wasn't fully in touch with consciously yet so it was a difficult situation to approach at all.

"And when she was walking away the other day, you watched her leave like it was the worst thing in the world for you." Demyx continued, now more calm... but not for long as his next statement was preceded by giggles, "Unless you were just staring at her butt, heh."

"I WAS NOT STARING AT HER BUTT. You don't have any idea what you're yappin' about..." Axel kept insisting, but it was a losing battle, "...I was watching her though, in her entirety. There, I admitted it, you happy?"

"Heh. For now." Demyx smirked.

"Let's ditch this dust town then." Axel said, motioning to the corridor he carelessly left open during their spat. Seriously, some random dumb kid could have ran into it without them even realizing it, but fortunately that didn't happen.

"No prob with me there!" Demyx agreed, strolling on in with Axel following him.

 _Hmm..._ thought Axel as they traversed the dark. There was a simple equation forming in his head. Having more friends = more resources, more resources multiplied by (x) friends maximizes resources important to him, thus = more friends, more help.

"Say, Demyx." He began.

"Sup, brah?" Demyx asked., looking over his shoulder.

"You happen to know any places with nice starry skies...?"

Demyx faced forward again as he walked, humming loudly. Axel waited in anticipation, feeling like it was taking far too long. If Demyx knew a place, surely he'd have the answer right ready to go, but with each moment of silent pondering Axel grew less hopeful.

"Nahh... not really..." Demyx responded with a shrug, "I haven't seen enough of the different worlds to tell."

"Hmph. Bummer." Said Axel.

"Hey wait a minute!" Demyx shouted, stopping and hopping to face Axel, "It's for Zee! You wanna show her the stars!"

"Urgh..." There was no longer a point in trying to dodge it, Demyx was figuring this stuff out at the speed of light, "Yes, you're right. She's never seen a star-filled sky and I made a promise I'd show her the best one there is to see."

"Shouldn't make a promise you can't follow through on~~" Demyx teased in a sing-song voice. Axel was ready to punch this nuisance in the stomach with that remark, "Nah dude, that's sweet of you. She must be real important to you, huh?"

"Yeah. She is." Axel responded, calm again after being taunted. Then he said something he never expected to say to anyone but her "She's the most important thing to me now."


	12. Words To Die By

**Chapter XII: Words To Die By**

_**Shine** a light through an open door_   
_Love and **life** I will divide_   
_Turn away 'cause **I need** you more_   
_Feel the heartbeat in my mind_   
_It's the way I'm feeling I just can't deny_   
_But I've gotta let it go_

"Keep dreaming..." Rex uttered to Xirena.

"Oh ok, I can do that! It's in my title." Xirena said proudly.

Held in Xirena's hands was a piece of clothing, a cute little dress colored pale blue. She and Rex had ventured out into the commercial area of The World That Never Was where Dusks operated different shops and establishments. The particular place they were perusing at the time was Rex's hotspot for getting clubbing outfits and this time brought Xirena along under the guise that he would help her pick out clothes for herself, but it was all ego stroking for him and down putting for Zee. Why exactly did he tell her to 'keep dreaming?' Well, it had nothing to do with the fact that she was The Dancer of Dreams, but the fact that Rex deemed that Xirena 'couldn't pull off that dress.' This of course flew right over Xirena's head and she took Rex's literal words about dreaming while tossing the dress back onto the pile where she picked it from.

"Ugggh had such a crap day yesterday," Rex began, "I went on a mission stuck with XIGBAR of all people in Neverland. Spoiler alert hon: being in Neverland lets you fly, anyway, there's lots of water there and Xigbar thought it would be funny to overpower me so he could hold my head underwater and 'pretend' to drown me. I mean, what kind of sociopath would do that? He laughed and insisted he knew how long was safe to not breath but oh my GOD I swear he was going to kill me. I could faint just thinking about it..." Rex whined.

Rex's other motive for these kinds of trips were to complain complain complain about everything happening in his life and he often exaggerated... In fact, he greatly exaggerated the Xigbar incident. All Xigbar did was sneak up on Rex and shove him into the water a few times while he wasn't paying attention. Try to kill Rex, Xigbar did not, just get him pissy.

"Well that wasn't very nice of Uncle Xiggy..." Xirena lamented, head downcast, "He should work on being nicer to you."

"Chyeah that'll happen. When pigs fly." Replied a snide Rex.

"I'll take Sunny to Neverland then! That'll work!" Xirena perked up with that big smile of hers.

Rex groaned so loudly that it disturbed the Dusk who was working the counter far up front in the store. It glanced over and saw no problem, so it went back to idly minding it's own business as it 'wiggled' in place as they always do.

"Whatever. Let's just shut up about that loser now," Rex proposed, changing the subject to one that suited both of them, "SOOOO I thought Glee was really good this week."

"Yeah, it was nice."

"Zee all you ever say about Glee is 'it was nice,' get some new material hon," Rex went on, "But ohmygosh I just can't get over how hot Cory Monteith is, I'm IN LOVE with him."

Xirena's nose wrinkled up in confusion.

" _In_... love?" She asked, addled with curiosity.

"Uhh, yeah? You see how hot he is? Smokin' freakin sexy." Rex raved of his crush.

"Love..." Xirena murmured.

This word was very intriguing to Xirena, so much to the point that she had a gut feeling to avoid talking about it with Rex. She knew EXACTLY who to ask about it, and no surprise either: Axel.

_Axel is smart. He'll know all about whatever this love stuff is!_ She thought.

* * *

 

Home again, to Rex's room they ventured. In and out of his bathroom did he come and go, each emergence he wore a new piece of clothing he had bought earlier. Rex wasn't very responsible with his money, you see, and spent it quite frivolously on his club clothes and make up. Truth be told, he didn't even get that many opportunities to go clubbing and use these items, which ended up being thrown out once he got tired of them, under the excuse of 'they're no longer fashionable' and that he needed to update his clothes and beauty products to match the most current trends.

"Well, that's everything." Rex spoke as he emerged from the bathroom, wearing his normal Organization attire, "Aaaaaaand my new make up kit just came in! You know what that means~"

"Don't rip off my eyebrows!" Xirena shouted, covering her face.

"Hon, I won't, but I will draw on them a little bit and maybe pluck." Rex assured her – this was perhaps the most honest and nice he'd been to Xirena... _ever_.

"Ok, if you promise..." She said, slowly lowering her hands down to her lap.

"Hon, I promise."

Rex produced his freshly opened box of make up and started pulling out products. He liked to start with the eyes, and given Xirena had such a difficult natural color palette to work with, it was never easy to start anywhere, but you always need a starting point for everything. However, he had purchased the most recent 'Naked' palette by Urban Decay, which promises to work with all skin tones, just like the other two 'Naked' palettes before that. Those palettes he was rather satisfied with, but ended up throwing them out once they quickly went out of style to him, or a new one was released. This was the third in the line of 'Naked.'

"Kay. So I'm thinking of using the colors Dust, Buzz and Darkheart first. Dust for the highlight, Buzz for the midtone and Darkheart for the dramatic shadow. Then, Perversion for mascara and a brow definer. The brow pencil is gonna be tricky since they don't exactly come in violet, so I'll go easy on them" Rex ranted. Xirena already zoned out, "THEN for the lips I got a nice Rough Cream Lipstick by Sephora to keep the natural look going. Hmm now where is that eye primer and blush..."

Xirena bounced her legs eagerly, she didn't mind this as long as it didn't involve any waxing. She hummed a Britney song to herself as Rex grabbed her face, squeezing her cheeks uncomfortably to keep his subject steady. Xirena closed her eyes and left herself at the mercy of Rexvir...

* * *

 

"Wow." Rex said to himself as he stepped back, "You look pretty good, hon. All thanks to me~"

In truth she was a little too done up, in standard Rex fashion, with her eyebrow color looking off due to the lack of properly colored brow pencils, but Rex managed to come up with a good match between the eye shadow and lipstick though. Xirena's already long and thick lashes were especially accentuated by the mascara and dark shadowed areas.

"Really?!" Xirena exclaimed.

Rex picked up his mirror and held it up in front of Zee.

"Cool!" She exclaimed yet again, "Am I done?"

Despite enjoying this time, Xirena did get impatient with how long the make overs took, so testing out full kits usually took a few days.

"Sure, hon." Rex said, "Now go ahead and do whatever it is you do when you're not with me. Unimportant things I assume."

Xirena hopped up from the edge of his bed and skipped out of his room, traveling in the same jovial manner as she proceeded down the hall. At her door she came to a stop and opened it on up, and there, waiting on the threshold waiting to greet her momma was Sunny. The pig let out a quiet oink of happiness, but then tilted her head in confusion over all the make up... a trait she'd picked up from Zee, but in a much more self aware fashion.

"Rex painted my face again, heehee." Xirena laughed. Sunny quietly snorted as her own form of laughter.

Xirena may not be bright but she knew how dangerous it was to leave Sunny exposed out of her room, and at this point the level of risk hit it's peak. Behind Xirena in the shadows stood what could be her undoing.

"What is that monstrosity?" A harsh voice said behind Xirena.

The girl spun around quickly and saw Saix glaring down at her, his height seeming even more towering given his frightening disposition. This guy was mad, _really mad._ His eyes glittered with a rage Xirena had yet to bear witness to, causing her to shiver in fear and lip to quiver.

"S-She's my pet... Sunn-"

"A pet is firmly against the rules!" Saix screamed before she could finish, "Especially a filthy animal like a PIG." He continued. Sunny wasn't pleased with that comment, for she was well aware of her excellent personal hygiene.

"No, no! She's very clean and well behaved! I promise! Please don't be mad Mr. Saix..." Xirena says, her voice began to waver and eyes to water.

Saix snarls and strides closer over to her menacingly, reaching out his hand to firmly grab her by the wrist and drag her off to be punished. Xirena closed hey eyes and tensed up in fear. But then...

"HEY!" A familiar voice shouted.

Saix's hand was halted by a larger one grabbing him by the bicep and forcing him to stop his attempt to grab Zee. Incredulous, Saix looked over and saw that it was none other than Axel who was giving him the 'goon hand,' as some would call the bicep grab. Axel yanked hard and pulled Saix away from Zee, who cautiously opened just one eye to observe the situation. Meanwhile, Sunny had run back to Zee's bed, blaming only herself for giving her presence away. Sunny thought Xirena or Axel would punish her in some way later, but anyone who knew Xirena was confident that would never happen. That little piggy _was_ very well behaved indeed, as Xirena already told the skeptical Saix.

"Leave her alone." Axel said in a low tone tinged with danger while Saix looked flabbergasted and Zee stared up at Axel with starry eyes.

Saix was confused and still furious, for even more reasons now. Axel's stomach fell deep, making him feel nauseated. Saix tore away Axel and huffed as he walked away, silently raging. Axel sighed, and fully faced Xirena now, who was so grateful that she jumped right onto him in another one of those crazy hugs of hers.

"Thank you so much, Axel!" She wailed, "Saix was super scary and I didn't know what to do..."

She held onto her friend for dear life itself, who was swift in hugging her back this time. However, unlike that last embrace they shared, this one went on longer... longer than just friends should be hugging. Axel felt Xirena's body twitch as she sniffed loudly, trying to keep her almost-running nose controlled.

"Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed, "Axel I wanted to ask you something!"

"Eh?" He asked as they pulled apart.

"What is love?!" She near-screamed.

Axel blinked stupidly, and actually recalled how she asked that question once when they'd met for one of the first times, but the topic got derailed into 'what is emotion?' in general.

"I... uh... Zee I don't think now's the time for talking about... _that._ " He said in a hushed voice, "How about tomorrow after work?"

"Oh ok." Xirena agreed, "I'm tired anyway... Rex took too long."

_Took too long what?_ Axel wondered.

"Well in that case you better get some rest." He recommended.

"Oh ok!" Xirena smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow!"

She gave him a pleasant wave, which he kindly returned, before disappearing into her room to sleep. It was at that point that Axel heard snickering behind him, prompting him to look over his shoulder...

"What...?" He said, as he had not expected anyone to be there but lo and behold there stood Demyx and Luxord. How much of the exchange with her and Saix they'd seen was unknown to him.

"DUDE!" Demyx shouted, "You went HAM on that and handled it perfectly!"

"I must say I do agree." Luxord nodded.

"Yeesh, keep your voice down..." Axel scolded Demyx, but then considered the content of what they were saying, "You guys, uh, really think that? It was just a basic act of kindness so I dunno why you're giving me praise."

Demyx tried and actually succeeded in partially holding in his laughter, because he knew just how much Xirena meant to Axel, and Luxord grinned devilishly.

"Demyx here has told me all about you and her as a pair." Luxord explained, "You know I must say, I think she fancies you her King of Hearts from what Demyx has told me."

"I'm not in the mood for your puns right now, man." Axel said flatly, prompting a chuckle from the gambler.

"Soooooooo," Demyx began, an evil smile spread across his face, "She looked totally mega pretty tonight, huh?"

"Eh?" Axel questioned.

"You know! All the make up Rex put on her!" Demyx explained.

"Oh." Axel replied dreamily, "I didn't notice at all." This was an honest statement on his part, there were much more important things happening at that point anyway.

Demyx's grin grew more evil if one could believe it, and Luxord joined him in the grin-fest. Axel raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Well I mean she's always pretty." Demyx shrugged, "Not my type, but she's definitely _yours_ , Axmaster."

_I hate it when he calls me that so much_ Axel thought.

"She's not _mine,_ I don't own her!" Axel yelled, completely missing what Demyx meant.

"Nah man I mean she's clearly your type," Demyx clarified, "You totally think she's cute no matter what and that part of it seems to be the least of your concerns with her. AKA, looks don't matter all that much for you two! It always helps I mean-"

"Shut up, shut up." Axel urged dangerously, getting in Demyx's face.

"Dude, Luxord, you totally get it too, right?" Demyx elbowed him as he asked.

"Well, you DID tell me that Axel himself said she was the most important thing." Luxord confirmed.

"Why can't you keep your damn mouth shut, Demyx?!" Axel shouted.

"Hey, hey! Luxord is good at secrets, they don't call him Tight-Lipped-Luxord for nothing!"

Axel's mouth gaped and he looked at Luxord, mentally asking 'is that true?' Luxord merely shrugged. All Axel could do at this point was trust in their word...

"Fine. But you two promise not to say anything to anyone else?" Axel pressed. The other two nodded, "Good. And I thought Rex was the only gossiper around here..."

"Welp, like you guys said before, it's pretty late." Demyx yawned and stretched, "We're hitting the hay too yo. Peace!"

Demyx and Luxord took their leave in separate directions and Axel sighed with great relief... something he didn't realize during their heated exchange, however, is that they were standing right outside of Zee's door the whole time. There was no way these rooms were soundproof either, as he heard Rex blasting music at all hours of the night sometimes. The ginger panicked and started to knock on her door and ask if she heard the 'fight' with Demyx and Luxord.

For some reason, it took her longer than usual to answer, and when the door opened it all became clear. Zee's face was dripping wet and make-up was messily flowing down her face – she held a cloth in her hand too. She was trying to wash it off in her bathroom, so between her further distant (though not by much) location and running water, there's no way she heard anything – and if she did, there was NO way she heard any details.

"What's up, Axel?" She asked, rubbing her face with the dry cloth.

"Well uh," He stammered. He didn't have anything to discuss with her at this point. Xirena was perceptive enough to know if she heard shouting that she'd ask about it. But then... it hit him, "Y'know, we forgot to make our wishes tonight."

"Oh!" Xirena exclaimed in shock, "You're right! Hurry, come in!"

Axel couldn't have been more relieved with how that situation concluded. His nerves relaxed, taking her hand and leading her back inside. The pair sat down on her bed before the large window, closed their eyes and put their wishes out into the universe...


	13. Days Unforgotten

**A/N:** So given the AMV was well received, how about more? I started over various points in time 4 other Zee and Axel videos (and actually a few jokey shipping videos, heh) and just maybe got inspiration for a 5th . They're all shorter than Lights though, that one is a special one since it's Zee's/Xirxel's main theme song, but for other ones I make the songs will be cut down to a reasonable length. Someone pick a number between 1 and 5 and that'll choose which AMV gets worked on next! I've been working hard to get these chapters out at a more regular rate for you guys too ^_^ anyway, hope you enjoy! (EDIT: reviewer on ffnet has already picked, sorry!)

 

**Chapter XIII: Days Unforgotten**

_It's time **to** come clean  
__and **make sense of** everything  
__it's time that we found out **who we are  
**__cause when I'm standing here_ **in the dark  
****I see** your face in every star

 

"Did you know about the animal, Axel?"

Saix stood in Axel's room, who was paying the berserker little mind as he lounged casually on his bed.

"What's it matter?" Axel shot back, staring at the ceiling.

"It matters because that means you too will face punishment if you knew and willingly harbored that rogue swine with Number IX." Saix continued.

"So, maybe I did." Axel replied snidely.

"You're off track." Saix said, quieting his voice a bit, but in doing so somehow was more threatening than he already was. Maybe it's because Axel knew this went beyond the pig just now, and thus he sat up quickly.

"I am not!" Axel insisted with stark diligence, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, now facing Saix with a hardened look.

"All you do in your spare time is entertain that dullard with childish things." He droned on, "Hardly would have any time to get any _real work_ done."

Axel was speechless but didn't let his hard face drop despite his silence, he knew exactly what 'real work' Saix was referring to here and he was growing less enthused about it as the days went on. Saix caught Axel right where he intended to, but what happened next, he would never have anticipated. Axel looked around nervously, before continuing the conversation a little quieter.

"You've got it wrong, pal. I don't like Xirena _at all_." Axel spoke, "She's literally too dumb to function but I have to play the nice guy..."

"Why's that?" Saix immediately questioned.

"I was nice to her in front of everyone else one or two times so I figured I can't just blow off the girl, even if I can't stand her. Consider it part of my job, I'm a bit of an espionage agent, aren't I?" Axel chuckled, "Who knows, maybe her cooperation could come in handy... somehow!"

"I...doubt that." Saix was now the one shocked but not willing to show it, "But fine... do as you please as long as it doesn't interfere."

Saix quickly turned to leave, but as he did, he heard his former best friend call from behind him.

"I haven't forgotten!"

Saix took his exit, and Axel wanted to take an exit too right about then – right out the window, that is. Axel just told one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, lie of his life to Saix. No, with that thought reconsidered, it _was_ the biggest lie of his life – both his human life and his Nobody life. Axel's mind had jumped to the quickest escape route and taking that lazy way he did had it's consequences, especially if word got back to Xirena about this. So he had his own secret work with Saix to keep on the down-low, but now had to make sure his lie doesn't get back around and spread that he dislikes her. It would be next to impossible to justify that to Xirena.

What a mess this ginger went and got himself into. This could never be undone.

* * *

"I wish we got to go to Wonderland..."

Xirena was strolling by herself, or so it seemed. After she'd spoken a muffled oink was heard and Sunny emerged over her mother's shoulder. Saix had sent Xirena out on a solo mission as a form of punishment, but little did he know that Sunny was still around, so Xirena was never quite alone, but the company of a coworker is always preferred to solo work. Going to Wonderland on her own for recon wouldn't have been so bad, though, it would've given her plenty of time to look for those roses to show to Axel.

But unfortunately, her recon mission was in the abysmal Agrabah, which meant she just had to wander around and hope to find something important or another member in the dreaded Arabian heat. Even though the "alone" part of his punishment wasn't as potent as he expected it to be, Saix still nailed it on being punishing.

"Agrabah is no fun..." Zee complained.

Zee and her pig companion trudged through the sands surrounding the main area, as they'd already scanned through the city. Sunny had about enough though and poked her mother's neck with her wet nose repeatedly in an attempt to urge Xirena to go home already.

"You really think we did enough work?" Xirena asked, head turned towards Sunny as far as she could. Sunny snorted in approval, "Well, I guess if you say so! Let's go home."

* * *

Back in the Gray Area, Xirena sat by herself. Either nobody else had returned yet or they were off doing their own thing, so Xirena decided to wait for Axel there. She knew he was likely still out working since she stopped at her own room to put Sunny in bed and knocked on Axel's door while she was in the area, and obviously didn't receive an answer. A long time had passed before a dark corridor appeared and the familiar, but very tired looking, ginger emerged from the darkness. Xirena immediately sprung up from the couch and sped over to greet him.

"Hiya!" She said enthusiastically.

"Hey there." He responded.

"Can we talk about love now?!" She asked with the same enthuse as her greeting, barely able to contain herself.

"Well let's go back to the room first!" Axel laughed, "You don't expect to stand here and get into that subject, eh?"

Xirena agreed with a nod and a giggle. The pair headed back to Xirena's room where they could have the required privacy. Zee immediately plopped down on her bed with a 'whoomph' noise as she hit the cushy mattress, but Axel remained standing for now. He hummed to himself, then raised his hand to stroke his chin, then he ended up starting to pace a bit – how would he do this?

"Well..." He finally said something to the expectant Zee after what felt like hours of silence, "Obviously it's a human emotion, a strong one at that. Really strong. You can love people, places, things... just about anything."

"Uh huh..." Xirena said, following along intently.

"Emotion itself is hard to explain since, y'know, you just FEEL it – and we can't really do that," He continued, "Love is when you really really really like something a lot. Like... dancing! You really like dancing, right?"

"Yeah! It's my favorite thing!" She exclaimed.

"Boom! You love dancing." Axel went on, "When you love someone or something, you just know it. I guess you could say something being your favorite means you love it, yeah."

"This is making sense, I think!"

"Haha! Good, good. Now... Love between people? That's a way more complex thing. You can love a person... BUT," He paused and halting his pacing, "You can also be _in love_ with a person. And that's something stronger than just liking someone, or them just being your favorite. Something way more deep than friendship."

"Oh... ok..." Now Xirena was losing it a bit, but she still tried her best.

"People in love have a special connection that they don't share with anyone else. For example... For whatever reason that you do, you could say that you love Rex because he's your good friend, but more like how you'd love a friend or family member. You're not _in_ love with Rex."

 _Thankfully._ Axel thought.

"That makes sense." Xirena spoke, "But I like you better, you're my favorite, so do I love you?"

"Well, that's up to you to decide really." Axel laughed, "We're great friends and if you like me better than him then yeah I'd say you love me."

"Cool!"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway... another thing people IN love do is physical stuff." Axel began his next point, "Like they hug, hold hands..."

"But we've done both of those." Xirena quickly cut him off. He abruptly sat down next to her and they faced one another.

"Well... good friends sometimes do those things too." His justification was swift, but a fumble followed, "People in love also kiss and hav-"

He stopped himself before he could even get close to that topic. No way. NO WAY. Thankfully, Xirena didn't question why he stopped talking and latched onto the word 'kiss' instead. This 'kiss' business was an alien concept to her.

"What is kiss?" She bluntly asked.

"Err," Axel choked, "A kiss is something you kinda just have to DO. Explaining it is... weird."

Silence fell and the two Nobodies stared into each others eyes, both brimming with various feelings left unsaid. Axel had a sudden urge then and that was the moment, it had to be, there was no more perfect a set up than this for Axel! Yet second by second passed... and passed and passed and passed. When he saw Xirena's eyes begin to narrow and her head tilt, however, Axel knew the key moment was gone. The red haired man had waited too long and his perfect moment slipped away like leaves in an impotent Autumn breeze.

"I... I think I get it." Xirena spoke, sealing the deal on the moment being gone, "So, love is an important thing?"

"Very important."

"Hmm I see..." She murmured, but quickly perked back up, "You know what I love?!"

"What's that?"

"When we make wishes!" She excitedly revealed, "I already picked mine out, let's do it now!"

"Hah, if you insist..."

The pair turned towards the window and to the empty sky beyond it. With a deep sigh, Xirena closed her eyes and sent her wish out into the universe. Axel did the same, following up with a large, loud yawn.

"Listen, work today was pretty tiring Zee... I think I gotta hit the hay a little earlier than usual." Axel said apologetically.

"Oh ok." Xirena said, "Don't hit it too hard, I don't want you to get hurt."

Axel laughed quietly as he rose from her bed to leave, with Xirena following his foot steps to the door. The man was decently pleased with how the whole 'love' thing went, it could've been far more disastrous and awkward so he at least had that off his shoulders. Yet here again Axel stood right before Xirena's door with his hand about to grasp the knob when a fire rose inside him again, that urge from mere moments ago... this time, however, he decided to handle things differently.

"Think fast!" He exclaimed.

He spun around at the speed of light and did it. Axel swiftly planted a kiss on Xirena's cheek.

"I- uh- Wha-?" Xirena stammered, stumbling backwards a tad.

Axel laughed yet again and put his hand on her head, partly to re-balance her and also to pat her on the head in the way he always did.

"G'Night, Zee." He coolly said, and with that, he left – left with a sense of unparalleled satisfaction.

Xirena was stunned out of her tiny mind and her hands flew to the cheek he had kissed where she pawed at the area oddly. Her breath grew as rapid as a rabbit's as she tried to process this split-second action. Sunny stirred in her sleep and awoke, wondering what her mother was fussing about. Xirena's ears perked up, hearing Sunny's quiet grunting that had indicated she'd woken up.

"Sunny!" Xirena exclaimed, spinning around – the hem of her coat floating as she did, "A-Axel just gave me a kiss! On the cheek! Right here!"

Sunny's prominent nostrils flared and her eyes filled with fire as Xirena pointed to the exact spot where he lips met her face. It's been well established that Sunny wasn't the Dancing Flame's biggest fan, and that she would do anything to protect her mother from being hurt by anybody. Sunny didn't want to see Zee get her non-heart broken by a stupid boy potentially playing around with her. Despite all the great times between the pair of Nobodies Sunny had witnessed, nothing would convince her to step down on how protective she could be of Zee.

"Ohh, don't look at me like that..." Xirena timidly spoke, "It was nice and I liked it!"

Sunny harshly rolled her piggy eyes and let out a piggy groan. Xirena was calming down at this point, but her mind was still working overtime. Her feet began to make her pace too, like Axel had done before – she was close to a possible conclusion. A thought then came to her that sent her into such a sudden halt that she almost fell.

"Wait!" She shouted, the loudness irritating the just-woken-up-pig, "Axel said people in love kiss each other! That's what people in love do!? Do friends kiss each other?"

 _That_ man being in love with her mother? Sunny was growing more displeased with each word that spilled forth from Xirena's mouth. Xirena had finally shut up, her panic replaced by a peaceful smile.

"Y'know Sunny," Xirena began as she headed towards her bed, "My wish tonight was to someday experience a kiss."

Axel was knocking her wishes out like crazy. First he granted her wish for food when she was hungry, and now he had granted her wish to be kissed too. As Xirena laid herself down to sleep and Sunny hopped up and laid on her stomach, Xirena began to wonder just what other of her wishes would come true... and which ones Axel would make come true.


	14. Holding Onto Heaven

**A/N:** Shout out to BabySealLover for choosing the AMV! The next one will be Counting Stars by One Republic, which is an Axel-POV song. Progress has been SLOW since I have to re-learn where all the most viable clips for AMV making are in all the cutscenes... Remember, if you have facebook, please like my fanpage (link in my profile here) because I post more frequent updates, like how far along I am in chapters or other works, plus the art too! It'll make waiting for new chapters a little less of a drag!

 

**Chapter XIV: Holding Onto Heaven**

**Starless sky** ,  
We've got so good at pretending  
There's a side, a side to you, that isn't running  
**And** **I** don't **know** where it is that you've been hiding  
But I need you tonight

 

The dark faded from her eyes as she awoke, and Xirena was instantly smiling. The memory of last night remained fresher in her head than a freshly picked apple, and it was a night she wouldn't soon forget. In fact, she swore she'd never forget it. Learning about love, as complex a a subject as it is, was such a great experience for her. Even better than learning about the emotion, though, was the action: The kiss. Xirena was certain she could still feel the spot on her cheek where she got her (technical) first kiss, swearing to herself that it still tingled and filled her with an ecstasy previously unknown to her. A tiny giggled rumbled in her, the movement of her abdomen jarring Sunny out of her own slumber – something the pig wasn't pleased with but accepted it regardless... it was about time to get up anyway and get ready for work.

Sunny felt Xirena begin to sit up, and thus hopped off her stomach and sat beside her. Zee stretched her arms above her head to limber up, that stupid grin not leaving her face.

"Last night was so fun, Sunny!" Xirena said whimsically. Sunny let out a grunt to convey an un-enthused 'yeah, right, sure' before Xirena continued, "I wonder what we'll do tonight?"

Xirena mused aloud as she stood from her bed, continuing to stretch. As a dancer, Xirena knew the importance of stretching after all. Stretching is good for everyone really, not just dancers, but damned if anyone else in the Organization would begin their day with a warm up stretch.

"Ok Sunny, hop in!" Xirena spoke, picking up Sunny and allowing her to jump over her shoulder and into her hood.

* * *

The Gray Area was as sparsely populated as ever, but there was no Axel to be seen. Rex, however, was there, but he was hardly a prize compared to Axel. Rex looked over to the violet headed girl who was looking around in confusion, knowing very well what she was checking for.

"He's already gone, hon." Rex called out to her.

"Oh. Ok..." Xirena responded distantly, but she pepped right back up, "Well, I'll get to see him later I'm sure!"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Rex asked with venom as Xirena approached him.

"I dunno ...are you?" She wondered with sincerity. Rex let out an exasperated 'ugh' and fell silent, "Um, do you know where he went today?"

"Not a clue, hon." The disinterested Rex replied, not caring enough to look at her, "I mean, he was gone before I even got out here so..."

"Oh ok."

"He's on an extended mission."

Xirena and Rex both jumped when they heard a voice behind them. Looking over their shoulders, they saw it was none other than Saix.

"Extended mission...?" Xirena asked with a tilted head.

"Yes." Saix responded flatly, "He won't be back tonight. In fact, I don't know when he'll be back."

"Wha? B-" Xirena began, but the cold berserker already had turned and ditched them, knowing better than to disclose any more information.

Xirena turned back around and looked sullen. She so desperately looked forward to coming home from work every night to hang out with her buddy, it was one of her only constants, and now that had been disrupted – and who knows for how long?

"Axel gone for a while? PERFECT!" Rex screamed, kicking his legs like a schoolgirl, "That means you're totes free to hang out with meeeeeeeeee."

"That's true I guess." Xirena replied, still a bit disappointed.

Instead of dwelling on this sad turn of events, Xirena chose to think about better things. She had her mind wander back to last night again and felt the dark feelings of sadness evaporate almost immediately. The girl sighed dreamily, which caught Rex's attention.

"Uhh, you ok there?" He asked, only semi-concerned.

"Oh? Yeah! Very ok!" She quickly replied, trying to hold in her glee.

"Perfect!" Said another voice popping up behind them, "That means you can do all the work today, Bubbles!"

Xigbar appeared behind them, bent down and swung an arm around Xirena's neck, a bit harshly too. It seemed more like a choke hold than an act of camaraderie as Xirena squirmed against his grip. Xigbar released Zee, who took a deep breath in.

"You and me today, Uncle Xiggy?" Asked Zee.

"You bet!" He replied, "Come on get moving, I wanna booze up and nap."

"Lucky you, hon... See you later." Rex remarked, the last thing he said before Xigbar dragged Xirena off into a dark corridor.

* * *

When the two emerged from the corridor it almost looked like they'd never even left it. The world which Xirena and Xigbar traveled to was very dark and... well, spooky. Pumpkins with sinister faces carved into them were lit by crooked street lamps, circled by screeching bats.

"Where are we...?" Xirena asked.

"Halloween Town." Xigbar said dryly, already walking away, "Come on, let's go let's go, hurry it up."

"Oh ok."

Xirena skipped after him to catch up, but the spring in her step remained once she was able to keep pace regardless. They were on a Heartless hunt today, and whatever Heartless resided in this place was sure to be a frightening thing, and the thought of what potential horror awaited them sent shivers down Zee's spine. After traversing a circular town square region, the pair came upon a large gate that lead to a more rural looking area of the town. Xigbar pushed the squeaky metal door open, revealing to Xirena a place not like she'd ever seen before. No buildings stood like here like they did in the town square, it was just flat land with slabs of stone popping up from the ground in various shapes and sizes.

Xigbar proceeded onwards and Zee followed as fear began to grow within her, as there was something inherently ghastly about this place. The stone slabs all had writing on them, and while some of the words varied, there was one 'word' that every stone had in common: R.I.P. Their path lead them down a narrow, straight dirt path that was lined on each side with these R.I.P. Stones – with a rectangular stone looking 'box' at the end of the line. The more of these slabs they passed by, the more unsettled Xirena became. The euphoria that lingered from the night before was hastily evaporating.

As much as her mind wanted to know what this R.I.P. Nonsense meant, she felt like Xigbar wasn't the one to ask about it. Zee had learned by now that Axel was her most trusted source, and for the best explanation she had to be patient. Xirena only hoped her increased absent mindedness didn't distract her from the mission too much...

"Hurry up, Bubbles, you're slacking." Xigbar shouted, irritated.

"Oh... oh ok." Xirena replied meekly, not having realized her pace had slowed in her fright. She shook it off best she could and jogged up to her partner.

* * *

"I hate this place."

Blinding white, ornate walls surrounded Axel as he walked in what felt like an eternal straight line. There were few deviations in the structure of this place, and almost all of them were useless to his mission anyway. It was far from a new experience for him anyway, he'd been here quite a few times before and never had any success. He had a rough idea of just how many floors were here by now, but Axel feared it may be fully illusory. It was damn near impossible to tell in that place: Castle Oblivion.

See, this was a rather exceptional location, like a very exclusive club. Axel has been the only member to go there so far and his mission description was always the same, vague thing. "Find the chamber of waking, Xemnas demands it above all else" – Saix repeated this to him damn near every time he sent him off to the abysmal 'castle.' Axel always had to make sure he was up exceptionally early so nobody could have the chance to eavesdrop on where he'd be going that day, despite being careful with their words, Saix was adamant about avoiding complications.

That morning was especially stressful. Axel wasn't known for his great ability to wake up in the morning, but something far worse came about. When discussing in short what he would be doing that day, or days... or weeks... Castle Oblivion missions tended to be 'extended,' but anyway... That day Axel made sure to express his false relief about not being paired with Xirena that day! The lie was already in place, so Axel figured, he had to keep it up as best as possible. He even went as far as to thank Saix for showing 'mercy' on him for giving him a decent break from 'the dunce.' Whether this was the lesser of two evils or not, which Axel had convinced himself of at this point, it felt wrong. The fiery red head seriously questioned each day now what was right and wrong, all thanks to that girl that had him consumed.

A smile came to his wear face when he thought of her. Axel wondered what she was doing right now, who she was with, where she was... Not in an obsessive, controlling way, but it was much nicer to think about than his present situation. He wondered how long he'd have to be away and what they would end up doing when he got back; he pondered how she'd react, and of course thought about what she did when she got the news this morning that he'd be away for who knows how long... He at least expected a solid hug at this point, those were becoming a regular thing and all at this point. A 'welcome back' kiss wasn't likely though, so he didn't bother even entertaining that idea.

"Hm." He hummed, taking a moment to stop.

Axel was struck suddenly by the memory of a conversation he had with Xigbar a long while ago at this point, one about Xirena. Deciding he needed a break, Axel headed over to one of the walls, and slumped down against it. This quiet place left him with too much time to think, getting inside his own head more than he needed to. Xigbar made such shady implications that Axel wished he'd pressed him more about now, but he found it doubtful that Xigbar would've told him anything of substance anyway even if he did play into the Freeshooter's hand... That's what he convinced himself of anyway. Good old ginger was certainly curious about where this girl he was enamored with came from, and moreso, just who else in the castle would know... and why. Why keep it hidden?

Something in the waters surrounding Xirena wasn't clean, and Axel had not a clue how to even begin to traverse the murk and find the clarity.

He had no way of addressing it at this point though, not so far away from home, so instead why not focus of the good? The red head hadn't forgotten the night before either and was just about equally jazzed about it as Xirena was. It was such a quick thing, but was a nice frozen moment in time in his memory. Feeling the softness and warmth of anothers skin was something Axel hadn't enjoyed in an eternity.

* * *

_Hello again, diary_

_It wasn't a very good day today I'm sad to say. Saix said Axel would be on an 'extended mission' whatever that means... but it doesn't sound good. I think it means he could be gone for a long time... Which is a sad thing. Rex seemed happy about it though so maybe I should be happy because Rex is happy, and Rex is also my friend? I don't know, I'm very confused. Work today wasn't good either. I went with Uncle Xiggy to a place called Halloween Town and it was the scariest place I've ever seen. It was dark and spooky, and the worst part was those rocks with R.I.P. On them. They were everywhere! I don't know what they meant, but they made me scared for some reason. I'm gonna wait until Axel comes home to talk about it because I don't like the way it makes me feel, and Axel could make me feel better about it. I hope he's not gone for too long... I'm scared now. Sunny helps at least, I'm gonna hold her really tight tonight._

Plop!

A small spot on the paper of her journal was suddenly damp, and there was a wet streak trailing from one of Xirena's eyes down her face. Her writings of fear were suddenly made irrelevant by the shock of this 'eye leak' she just had. Both her eyes felt excessively watery, even, and a second string of 'water' streaked down the other side of her face and dropped onto the paper from her chin.

"H-Huh?!" She exclaimed, jumping out of her chair, "W-What's happening?"

Sunny perked up, seeing that her mother was done with her writing, but also detecting that something was up. Xirena quickly ran over to bed and hopped in, staring directly at Sunny.

"Sunny! My face is leaking!" She said in a hushed, but frantic tone. She had to be even more careful with Sunny's presence after all, "Why is it leaking...? Am I broken?"

Sunny could give no answer and merely looked upon her mother somberly. The pig may not like Axel very much, but she could see how important he was to Xirena. Sunny nudged her momma and snorted quietly.

"Yeah, you're right, sleep is probably a good idea..." Xirena agreed.

She quickly shed off her coat, boots and pants for maximum comfort and shimmied under the blankets with Sunny held close to her chest. Laying on her side, Zee looked up towards her window and out into the abyss, staring for a few moments.

_I wish I knew what just happened to me..._


	15. Promised Land

**A/N:** Hi guys! Good to be updating again. Here we are with chapter 15, hope you all enjoy!

 

**Chapter XV: Promised Land**

_**The lost dreams** _ _**are** _ _buried in my sleep_ _**for him** _   
_And this was the ecstasy of a love forgotten_   
_**And** _ _I'm thrown in the gunfire of empty bullets_   
_And my blood is all I see_ _  
_ _As_ _**you steal my soul** _ _from me_

 

_Hello there diary, I hope you're doing ok..._

_Today was ok but Axel is still gone. It's been a long time, we even got two new members here while he's been away. First was a man who was tall and had pink hair, then we got another girl! But she's kinda mean so we don't talk much... I've made tons of wishes, like wishing for Axel to come back. I did that one a few times, but it's different without Axel. I've had plenty of time to spend with Rex which makes him happy and I've been reading with Zexion to help pass the time, I hope he doesn't mind. It's not the same as Axel though, he just makes me the happiest for some reason. I wonder who makes Axel the happiest? I hope it's me..._

Xirena dropped her pen to the side, startling Sunny.

"S-Sorry Sunny..." Xirena responded, picking up her pen again.

Xirena looked down at the short entry, specifically at the last four words she wrote. They left her uneasy and thus suddenly she was scribbling them out until they were no longer legible. Red faced, she quickly scrawled 'I hope he tells me sometime' instead. Xirena sighed heavily, throwing down her pen again as she slumped back in her chair. Her hands rested on her stomach, which she patted on in random rhythm as she stared forward.

Sunny's ears suddenly perked up and she snorted quietly, her attention grabbed by Xirena's door. Zee looked to Sunny, then to her door with a confused look.

"Is something there?" Xirena asked, rising from her chair of poor posture.

Something certainly was there when she opened up the door, someone... err a Nobody rather. A tall, familiar red head stood there with his fist in the air ready to knock at her door.

"Sunny spoiled it, didn't she?" He asked flatly.

"Axel!" Xirena shouted gleefully, jumping into him.

Axel grabbed her enthusiastically, able to easily lift her in the air for a brief moment. Somehow, the physicality came much more fluid to him this time.

"I missed you so much!" Xirena continued, with her feet back on the ground "I got stuff to ask you and stuff to tell you and stuff!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Axel laughed, stepping inside and nudging the door closed behind him with his foot, "Lemme hear it!"

"Well there's two new members here now, but I don't know them very well and one of them has a hard name to pronounce." Xirena began, starting softly.

"Ah, you mean Marluxia and Larxene." Axel spoke, stroking his chin, "I saw them briefly on my way back. Marluxia I can't get a read on but that Larxene is a bit stand-offish, yeah?"

"Yeah, she's not very nice to me..." Zee lamented.

"Ah well, don't worry about that too much. Not everyone gets along y'know." Axel assured her, patting her head as he did so.

"Oh ok."

"What else is new?" He asked, but then quickly cut back in, "Err, mind if I sit? It's been a long mission."

"Oh, not at all! Sunny, make room for Axel please?" Xirena commanded, politely.

Sunny wasn't exactly happy about it, but she was too respectful of her parent to disobey. Reluctantly, the pig got up and moved from the center of the bed to the edge, giving Axel some room to sit.

"Thanks." Said Axel as he sat down, "Alright then, back to business!"

Axel felt confident, not expecting anything deep like the love talk, and for that he was a fool. Never underestimate Xirena.

"Well I had this really weird thing happen to me one night," The girl began, "I was writing in my diary about missing you and feeling bad when all of a sudden water started coming out of my eyes!"

Axel's eye twitched and silence fell. Nope, he wasn't ready for that bomb to be dropped, but he had to recover from the fallout quickly as Xirena had that painfully expectant look on her face.

"L-Let's backtrack..." He started, "We Nobodies aren't supposed to feel anything, it's in the job description, so what you're telling me right now is a big deal, got it memorized?"

"Oh ok... but why?" Xirena asked.

"What 'happened' to you was that you started crying." Axel explained, "Crying is something people do when they're affected by strong emotions, sadness being the most common reason. So you're telling me you felt so sad that you cried?"

"Um, yeah that sounds right. I was definitely super sad because I missed you so... that makes sense, right?"

"No, Zee, no... not at all... because we're Nobodies. Nobodies don't cry, it's just a fact."

"But I did!" Xirena insisted, followed by a supportive grunt from Sunny, who Axel then turned to.

"So, you witnessed it?" He asked the pig. Sunny nodded several times to drive the point home, "Well... who am I to deny it then?" Axel added with a sigh.

"Is this a bad thing?" Xirena said, now beginning to grow worried.

"No, not _bad_ but just confusing." Axel quickly corrected.

"Oh ok, if you say so." Xirena replied, "I thought I might have been sick or something."

"Hah, no Zee, not sick." Axel laughed. He waved to her invitingly, beckoning her to come sit with him.

"Good..." Zee said as she sat down across from him on the fluffy bed.

Axel noticed some curious body language about Xirena. She wouldn't meet his gaze and averted it any time he tried to match up their eyes and she looked more 'closed off' than usual. This set off alarms in his head that there was more to talk about, and it had to be on the same level or even worse than talking about crying to make her act so sheepish. Axel's stomach twisted, hotly anticipating in good and bad ways what could possibly come next.

"On the day you left," Xirena began softly, "Uncle Xiggy and I went to a place I never went before. I think he called it Halloween town."

"Oh." Axel responded, "I imagine you didn't like it much?"

Xirena shook her head from side to side rapidly, her hair flailing wildly and free.

"It wasn't bad until we found the stones." She continued.

"...Stones?"

"They stuck out of the ground and came in different sizes but the shapes were more or less the same. They said stuff on them, not all the same... but all of them DID say one same thing."

"What's that?" Axel pressed.

He tried not to sound too pushy, but he was concerned. Xirena hesitated, looking off to the side again and sucking on her bottom lip nervously. Her body tensed up as she prepared to say the 'words.'

"R.I.P." She finally answered.

 _She saw graves..._ Thought Axel, feeling a bit dumb for not realizing it sooner with the clues she had dropped.

"I bet you're wondering what that stands for then." He said, and Xirena nodded, "Well, R.I.P. stands for 'rest in peace'... people who die, we wish for them to rest in peace. The stones you saw were gravestones for people that had died, they mark where someone was buried."

"Die...?" Xirena's voice quivered, "What... What does it mean to... die?"

Was this easier or harder than talking about crying? Axel wasn't sure yet, but he wasn't excited about this. Talking about love was much more pleasant in comparison...

"It's when someone stops being alive. People, animals... they get old, too old and too tired to keep going. Everyone comes with an expiration date." Axel bluntly explained, "You can do different things with the body, but most opt to be buried, and that's what the gravestone is for. It's a memorial to their life."

"Do we... die?"

This was one Axel didn't have a real answer for. Even he, someone with high level information in the Organization, wasn't entirely sure what happens if a Nobody is killed. All he knew for sure is they didn't age and die of natural causes, but in theory they _could_ be killed, though there were no documented cases of a high level Nobody being killed, the fact that lower level ones like Dusks could be... it would only make sense that it was true across all Nobodies.

"That's a tough one, Zee." Axel sighed, hanging his head, "We don't get older like humans do, and don't die from being too old and tired. You, me and the rest of the Organization, we don't get older. We're frozen in time. But if someone came and stabbed me with a sword or something, I'd die. But that's bad, killing is bad."

"But where do people go when they die?" Xirena asked with urgency.

"That's a question I don't think anybody can answer." Axel answered truthfully, "People believe a lot of different things about what happens after death. It's doubly impossible to say what'll happen to us if we got killed."

Xirena went quiet, her eyes darting back and forth in a distressed manner, which usually meant she was working her brain harder than she usually did. Her pink lips parted with no speech to follow, just a breath of fear.

"So, if we got hearts again," She said, "Does that mean we'll die like normal people do?"

Axel frowned.

"I really don't know Zee. We're not even sure how getting our hearts back works at this point. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful with this topic."

"We kill Heartless, right?" She started up again with fervor, crawling towards Axel, "If killing is bad, w-why is it ok to kill Heartless?"

"Err..." Axel quacked, "Heartless are monster's that kill people, Zee. It's tricky. Heartless are bad, scary monsters who cause trouble."

"So killing people is bad?"

"Yes." He answered firmly, "Killing people is bad."

Xirena sat back and exhaled heavily, then buried her face in her hands and made odd whimpering noises. Axel feared she may be crying again and had to swoop in with his white knight savior behavior.

"Oh but come on, Zee! Let's talk about other things!" Axel insisted, "Something happier! Living in dread is no way to live."

"Happier?" She asked, peeking out from between her fingers, "Well..."

"Well?"

"You granted another one of my wishes. I had wished to know what happened to me the night when I cried and you explained it to me!"

"Well that's, what now... 3 wishes granted? Food, a kiss and explaining crying. I must be a Genie or something!"

Xirena dropped her hands from her face, tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips at him. She clearly didn't know what a Genie was, so Axel brushed passed it and moved on. He casually leaned against the wall the bed was pushed up against... He was just so happy to be home, sitting with the girl he he had a deep fondness for, talking as they do and just getting back to the norm. He remembered his trip to the other Castle with nothing but bitterness, which lead him to say something rather... stupid.

"Y'know it'd be great to get outta here one day... Just run away and never come back here. Live our own lives." He said, and IMMEDIATELY regretted it, "Scratch that! No! Forget I said that! I never said any of that!"

"Oh ok... but why?"

"Well, abandoning the Organization is a bad thing to do," Axel explained, "You're marked as a traitor and would be punished. Most likely by being destroyed... which is basically being killed."

"So being a 'traitor' must be a very bad thing then, right?" Zee questioned.

"Very, _very_ bad for us." He said with grim assurance, "I really don't know why I said that..."

So much for talking about happier things. The conversation sure shifted from sad, to happy to morose again real fast, and Axel had no-one to blame but himself for that.

"But!" She started, again in a tizzy, "What if I get lost one day and can't find my way home? Will they call me a traitor and destroy me?!"

Axel lunged forward and grabbed the near-hysterical Zee by her shoulders in a firm yet gentle way.

"I'll make damn sure that doesn't happen. Wherever you go, I'll find you, and I'll always be there to bring you back." He said sternly and sincere, "I promise you that."

"R-Really?" Zee stammered. Axel nodded.

"And you remember what a promise is, right?" He teased.

"It means you're gonna do exactly what you say you will, no matter what!" Xirena proudly replied.

Axel chuckled and gave her a pat on the head, as he was prone to do. It did make him quite pleased that she remembered how he'd defined it for her. It was only just then that the fatigue of the Castle Oblivion mission hit Axel, and it hit him like a speeding mack truck.

"Say, Axel..." Xirena began cautiously.

Axel's round ears perked up at the sound of her beckoning tone.

"Wanna dance again?" She asked, more boldly.

Axel let out a soft, yet exhausted, chuckle. He was right ready to turn her down because of how tired he was – but one look back at her, back at those blazing red eyes, immediately inspired a change.

"Well..." He said, "A little one before bed couldn't hurt, right?"

"And then we'll do our wishes!" Xirena said, planning everything out step by step, not that it needed to be by any means.

Xirena was practical enough not to drag them down all the way to the Void of Reverie, but to just make use of the boombox in her room. They just had to make sure to keep it as quiet as possible and try not to run into the various pieces of furniture... and Sunny, who chose to stay on the bed as it seemed like the safest place to be. Axel watched on as Xirena fiddled with the machine and looked through several discs before deciding on one to pop in. A few button presses later and music filled the room...

 

_We, we don't have to worry bout nothing  
_ _Cuz we got the fire and it's burning one hell of a somethin'..._


	16. Empty Melodies

**A/N:** Hi guys! I was looking at the review page for this story and I feel like I haven't responded to everyone who's reviewed and for that, I am very sorry, I like to thank people personally so if I forgot to after all this time I apologize deeply. Thank you all for your kind and inspiring reviews, they help keep me going for sure, knowing people beyond my tiny circle of friends likes this – a story with an OC romancing a canon character! The odds were stacked against me! LOL but really, we love you all and all the feedback given. Also, this AMV has got me stumped, so far the footage and music just aren't 'clicking' but I'm not giving up!

**Chapter XVI: Empty Melodies**

_There's a drumming noise inside my head_  
That starts **when you're around**  
 **I swear that** you could hear it  
It makes such an all mighty sound

"Come on guys! I swear it'll be fun!"

Demyx was practically on his knees in front of his friends, or the closest things to friends he had, begging them like a puppy staring at his master's fresh dinner. He'd dragged Axel, Rex and Xirena out of the castle and to the Commercial District of The World That Never Was, aka where they shop, aka Rex's favorite District to go to.

"I guess..." Axel was hesitant, scratching the back of his head as he stared up at the sign outside the store they stood in front of.

"Please! I swear I swear I swear!" Demyx begged yet again, more and more pathetic each time.

Axel glanced over at Rex, who looked as disinterested as he could possibly look. Then over to Xirena, who was excitedly bouncing up and down in anticipation for Demyx's hopefully 'fun' idea. Between siding with Rex or Zee, the choice was as obvious as it could be. Axel sighed deeply and hung his head with the fear that regret would settle in at any given second.

"Alright, we'll try it." Axel reluctantly said, crossing his arms.

"YES! You won't regret it Axmaster, I swear." Demyx promised, hopping back to his feet and sprinting into the store.

"I just know I'll be paying for all of this. I just know it." Axel said through gritted teeth.

With Xirena following after Demyx, Rex and Axel went on into the store as well. What was this store though, exactly? Over the doors hung a neon blinking sign that said 'NOBODY MUSIC SUPPLY' with a fancy script font subtitle of 'for all your musical wants and needs!'

"OKAY! I'll obviously be playing guitar." Demyx said, wasting no time in taking control of the situation. He'd unofficially appointed himself the leader of this project and thus had the most creative control.

"Don't you have a guitar already?" Xirena asked her friend, tilting her head and raising a pondering finger to her lips.

"No, no you silly gal." Demyx playfully sighed and plopped his hand on her shoulder, "I have a _sitar._ It's different."

"Oh ok. If you say so!"

"Okay yeah so like I said, I'll be on guitar." Demyx began yet again, detaching himself from Zee.

Axel and Rex finally caught up to the other pair, having dragged their feet the whole way. Now, while Axel was here because he knew Zee wanted to do it and admittedly... he thought it could be fun to form a band too, but couldn't admit that to Demyx. It'd make him even more annoying. No harm could come from learning an instrument, it'd clearly be a positive trait to have in your arsenal of hobbies.

"Axmaster. I'm thinking bass guitar for you." Demyx spoke, pointing at Axel, who shrugged indifferently, "Zee, I'm thinking as our vocalist and dancer obviously."

"NO." Rex screamed, shattering the eardrums of everyone around him. A tantrum had just begun, "I'M going to be the singer. ME. If I have to be in this band it's gonna be all about _me._ "

"Err." Demyx started awkwardly, hoping to calm The Swift Brawler but he had a feeling his continuance would only anger him more, "I was thinking you should be in the back doing drums instead."

"Oh ABSOLUTELY NOT." Rex wagged his finger wildly and huffed, "You expect me to be that far away from the front? Nobody will be able to see me back there!"

Rex looked around as he hissy-fitted and bitterly grabbed a tambourine, the first thing he saw, and threw it at Xirena, who wasn't prepared for the sudden strike. The small instrument impacted against her stomach, and she let out a yelp as it impacted and she proceeded to rub the area where it hit her, an intense and despaired frown on her face. It was a look he never liked to see on Xirena, and in this scenario it was especially troublesome to him since it resulted as a direct attack from a tangible source. The tambourine fell to the floor with a jingle and everyone fell silent. Demyx gulped loudly, looking back and forth from Axel to Zee with immense worry. Axel shot a dangerous, damn near DEADLY look at Rex, who rolled his eyes at Axel. Trying his best not to chomp down on that 'stress spot' on the inside of his cheek, he spun to Rex and grabbed his shoulder roughly.

"What the?!" Rex shouted, taken aback.

"Tit for tat." Axel responded flatly, almost sociopathic in nature.

Axel's free hand quickly formed into a fist and Rex began to panic, unable to escape Axel's one-handed grip since he was so much bigger than the Swift Brawler. Axel winded up a punch, aimed straight for Rex's gut, and he had no intention of holding back.

"AXMASTER!" Demyx shouted, tackling Axel and grabbing his arm that he was about to punch Rex with. Xirena quickly managed to help Rex by softly tugging him away, and Rex was in hysterics as anyone could have predicted. The shock of being tackled threw Axel off, even though he had a size advantage over Demyx too.

Being held back by Demyx gave Axel time to re-think what he was about to do, his rage diminishing at a slow rate, but quelling all the same. Even with his nostrils still flared and teeth gritted, he understood that if he started a fight like that he'd be transformed into a Dusk for at LEAST a week as punishment... and on top of that, it'd make such an awful impression on Xirena if he actually punched Rex. Axel recognized he was wrong to respond so viscerally, but Rex had no right to be a douchebag either, but he knew that Rex wouldn't admit to it. Not once, not ever.

"Urgh." Axel grunted, breaking free from Demyx, "Sorry. I guess."

"Yeah." Rex responded with venom and looked away, "You better be."

"O-Okay guys let's move on!" Demyx urged, making sure to get between the two men as a precaution, "Okay Rex, you win... You can be the vocalist, but I retain the right to change you to drums if we deem your singing not good enough."

"Pshaw!" Rex was appalled by Demyx's insinuation, "PUH-LEASE I can out-sing anyone here, _especially_ Xirena."

"Like I said... we'll try it... but I think it's only fair to give Xirena a try too afterward. Like a proper audition! Yeah!"

"Alright, fine." Rex reluctantly agreed, "But I get to go first."

"Yes, that's the agreement." Demyx promised, "But this means we have nobody... heh... Nobody on drums. No offense to Zee, but I don't think she can do drums. Who else could we possibly ask...?"

Tap tap tap.

"Eh?" A collective noise from all the men.

Jingle jingle tap tap.

Being ignored after the fight up to this point, the attention was taken away from Xirena. In the time she was not being included in the conversation, she had picked up the tambourine and started playing with it, pleased by how easily it was to form a decent beat with it. She shook it at different rhythms, tapped it with her hand and smacked it against her hip – all with a smile on her face. While not as free to dance as she would be able to as the vocalist, she could still bust moves while shaking her little tambourine.

"Zee! The tambourine is right up your alley!" Demyx exclaimed.

"Really?" She asked, ceasing her musical endeavor.

"Yeah! And I mean, you could still play it even if you sing too." Demyx assured her too.

"She's getting special treatment..." Rex groaned under his breath, childish as usual.

"Knock it off, Rexvir." Axel bitterly chimed it, using his full name so you knew he was serious.

"Auditions, guys!" Demyx shouted, trying his best to be the mediator in the heated exchange. Poor Demyx never could have predicted how this was all gonna go down, "You can audition to sing too if ya want, Axmaster."

"Think I'll pass." Axel waved his hand dismissively, "I'll gladly take the bass guitar, you know more about this stuff than I do so I'll trust you to know what's best."

Rex made a face, still bitter. To think Demyx's ideas were the best to go with after his idea was to put Rex on drums? It was laughable to Rex and made a plan to never trust Demyx again on subjects related to music.

"Rex..." Demyx started softly, "If we pick Zee to sing instead of you, will you please play drums? It DOES take a lot of skill which I bet you have!" He thought adding that last bit in was a good hook.

"...I'll think about it." Rex huffed, "I need to wind down after this mess. I'm going to the club tonight."

"B-But you don't want to help us pick out stuff?" Demyx said sadly, "Or practice?"

"I picked the stupid tambourine for Xirena, I did enough." Rex dismissed Demyx coldly, "BYE losers."

With that, Rex marched out of the store, ready to badly dance his troubles away. He absolutely couldn't WAIT to tell anyone that would listen that he was physically threatened, just for the attention. He would also tell everyone that he was gonna be a singer in a famous band too, despite that being mostly wrong. Rex can't live without being the center of attention, so he'd go to any length he can to exaggerate his life and dramatize it. However, back in the store everyone was secretly relieved that Rex left them... well, except maybe Xirena. She didn't like that he threw the tambourine at her, but that didn't mean she wanted him to leave or get punched.

"So uh, hey Zee. Why not take the tambourine up to the counter and have the Dusk hold onto it while we look around more?" Demyx suggested.

"Oh ok!" She said, gleefully and gracefully turning and skipping towards the counter. Meanwhile, Demyx elbowed Axel. He didn't want to piss him off any more than he already was so he made sure it was a gentle touch.

"So... can Rex even sing, do you know?" Demyx asked quietly. Axel let out a pained sound.

"Not even a little bit." He answered honestly, scrunching his face in pain and disgust, "But I can't vouch for Zee either."

"Eh? You think she'd be decent enough since she's all about music, kinda!"

"Well, she never actually sings along. She just hums along with the song, but I caught her lip syncing a few times. Who knows, maybe she was singing and I just couldn't hear it over the music."

"Well if she falls through too then this band idea is dead in the water..." Demyx lamented, then joked, "Unless maybe if Luxord or Zexion can sing or drum! Hehe!"

"Eh, let's just go get our instruments and try to enjoy the rest of this day." Axel said, giving Demyx a solid pat on the back, who coughed at the unexpected force.

He was getting convinced that Axel wasn't aware of his own strength, and honestly, Demyx kinda wanted to see him punch Rex. Not even just for the blatant abuse suffered by Zee just now, that just happened to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Enough time had passed since Demyx's joining that he experienced plenty of Rex's less than great attitude about... everything. In fact, quite a bit of time had passed between since Axel got back and to that point that they were at now. Demyx had been planning this band thing for a long time.

"We need a band name too." Demyx said frankly.

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself there?"

"I was thinking 'Icarus Burning!' Sounds cool, yeah?" Demyx totally ignored Axel's protest.

"Uhh... sure, yeah. Icarus Burning it is." Axel apathetically agreed, "Unless someone else comes up with something better."

"Ooooh! Let's make a list!" Demyx suggested, thrusting one arm into the air and jumping.

"You can handle that, buddy."

"Handle what?" That feminine voice interrupted.

Xirena had returned from the front counter, where the tambourine sat safely where it couldn't be picked up by any-Nobody else (even the lesser Nobodies liked to take part in recreational activities, they get bored too when they're not fighting with their commanders after all).

"Just band names!" Demyx explained, "We got one idea so far, but we're gonna make a list."

" _You're_ going to make a list, Demyx, you are." Axel corrected.

"Oh ok. Maybe I can help!" Xirena said, smiling as she always did. It was as if she'd completely forgotten about being assaulted by Rex mere minutes earlier. Actually, she probably did, at least for the time being.

"Sounds good, Zee-mama!" Demyx said encouragingly, "We'll have a name before we know it!"

* * *

Just as he feared, Axel ended up footing the expensive bill for the instruments. They picked up a guitar, microphone, mic stand and a bass on top of the tambourine and the associated instrument cases – choosing to hold off on the drums for now until after singing auditions, it'd only be right for the designated drummer to pick out their own set of drums after all. They all knew Zee wouldn't be the drum player though, their group needed a dancer, and there was no way she could drum AND dance... or drum to begin with probably. For now the group, except for Rex, had returned to the castle and decided to slack around the Gray Area for a while. One of the new members was sitting in there too, Marluxia, across from Luxord who he graciously was playing cards with.

"So, should we start practicing with our stuff before singing auditions? Or wait til after? I'm so excited, I have so many song ideas. I had Zee in mind for the vocals on them so the idea of transferring them to Rex is hard." Demyx rambled.

Axel was completely relaxed, taking up at least half the couch to himself with his arms hanging over the back and his legs spread widely in front of him, slumping down. Honestly his mind wasn't quite so relaxed, he was still angry with Rex, but he was exhausted by the day with them that all he could do was sink into the couch for now. Then, just as if they'd summoned him by merely thinking, Rex appeared in the Gray Area looking upset.

"Got rejected by a hottie." Rex whined, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Nobody asked." Axel groaned, "We don't care."

"Whatever." Rex replied, then turning his attention to Zee, "Oh honey... No."

For some reason he actually sounded concerned, but that was quickly trampled when he grabbed Zee by the cheeks, pulling her forward to examine her.

"Your bangs are getting way too long, let me cut them." Rex offered, "Your ends are dead too so just let me trim it, please, you look a mess."

"Um..." Xirena was hesitant, and with his grip on her face it was hard to talk properly, "Oh ok, if you say so Rex."

Rex released Xirena and grabbed her wrist forcefully, pulling her up and away as they headed towards his room. Axel raised his previously resting head as they walked away, his expression souring as he saw Xirena happily walk away with that douche.

"There you go again." Demyx grinned, stretching and putting his hands behind his head, "Looking all puppy-like when she leaves."

"Pfft." Axel snorted, "I hate to steal someone else's catchphrase but... As if. I don't have a puppy-like look."

"Hah!" Demyx barked with laughter, "Sure you don't, Axmaster."

Axel let out a displeased groan for possibly the millionth time that day, his head bobbing backwards again and resting on the edge of the back of the couch – just staring at the ceiling. From the ceiling, his eyes traveled to that giant, haunting window that took up an entire wall of the Gray Area. The unending blackness of the sky was ever-unsettling, and only served to remind him of the harsh fact that he hadn't yet found a star-filled sky for Zee to see. Axel sighed, disappointed in himself for failing at what seemed to be such a simple task. He couldn't stop beating himself up over it, but he kept telling himself to be patient too – good things come to those who wait.

"Say, Axmaster..." Demyx began.

"What is it this time?" Axel asked, irritated and still staring out the window.

"You shoulda taken advantage of the hair thing. Get her a present like hair clips or something, don't let Rex steal this opportunity away from you!"

Axel abruptly sat up, nearly flinging himself forward off the couch and onto the coffee table. It was rare that Demyx had a sincerely good idea, but one _that_ good? He'd never heard Demyx say something so helpful in his entire Nobody existence.

"Shit!" Axel exclaimed, "It's too late now! She already went with that lunatic!"

"Hey, I bet she'd appreciate the gift anyway buddy. You won't know til you try." Demyx said, offering more words of advice.

"You're right, really, you are." Axel assured him, standing up quickly, "I gotta go."

* * *

"Sooo here's what I'm thinking." Rex said with scissors in hand, pulling out a picture of Lady Gaga and handing it to Zee, "Gaga has had some pretty hip hair styles, this short one is good because it's not too crazy of a change."

It was a picture of Gaga with similar length of hair to Xirena, but unlike Zee's hair, Gaga's ends (including the bangs) were completely blunt and cut straight across. Zee's hairs had layers to it, and her bangs parted to the side and not straight across like Gaga's did. Xirena looked at the picture closely and frowned.

"I don't think I wanna do it like that, Rex." She said, standing up to Rex for a change, albeit in a small way. Rex scoffed.

"Hon, I'm the one to trust with this stuff. Believe me, it'll be better than what you have now." He said, coming at her with the scissors.

"No, Rex!" Xirena scooted back in her chair, "I don't like that hair, just cut the dead parts you mentioned."

Rex snatched the picture away from Xirena, his mouth agape in shock.

"Well FINE then, Miss Know-It-All-About-Fashion-And-Beauty-Now." Rex said angrily.

He calmed himself the best he could before standing behind Xirena and beginning to cut off the dead ends of her hair, which wasn't too much so the length of her hair came to be about the same length as it was. Rex made sure to give her his no longer "in style" hair products for her to use and keep her hair looking healthy, especially to avoid dead ends. Like it's been said many a time before, Rex won't be seen with someone who looks like a mess. So whenever he had less than half a bottle of things ranging from 'Garnier' to an 'It's a 10' product left but something better came into his possession, he'd toss the scraps off to Zee.

Xirena sat there, watching her dead hair fall to the floor around her, the violet contrasting sharply with the sterile whites and grays of the floor. Rex had the decency to throw one of those ponchos over her to keep the hair from getting all over her as he cut. As she sat, she wished she'd stayed with Axel and Demyx instead. Unpleasant emotions stirred in her as Rex continued to circle around her, Zee unable to look at him.

"Are you mad at me Rex?" Xirena asked timidly.

"Huh?"

"For not liking the hair you picked out..."

"Ugh, hon..." He said, "It's not a big deal. I'm not mad at you, okay?"

"Oh ok." Xirena responded with a relieved sigh, "I was really scared for a second."

Rex looked down at Xirena, feeling an ounce of compassion for the girl there. It was like all the bad treatment he gave her compounded onto that moment, but would Rex crack? No. He was too narcissistic to let that feeling bother him for more than a brief moment. In truth, he wasn't happy she disliked the Gaga cut, but he was mature enough to get over it and not be actually mad at Zee herself.

"I'll just do a better job convincing you next time." Rex said happily, stepping back from Zee and pulling the hair poncho off of her, "Free to go, hon."

"Thanks Rex!" Said a thankful Xirena, who ran her fingers through her freshly touched-up head of purple hair.

Rex held up his hand-mirror so Zee could admire his work, and her reflection stared back at her, just as happy as she was. Suddenly, a look crossed Zee's face – a look as if she just remembered something important; something incredibly crucial to her life. She shot up from her seat, unintentionally sending Rex stumbling backwards.

"Wha- Hey! That was RUDE!" He shouted after her as Xirena ran out of his room.

* * *

The door fell shut behind Xirena, her head quickly darting back and forth – up and down the hall. Her luck was from heaven that night, as her target presented himself for her. She saw Axel stepping out of his room, trying to look inconspicuous and sneaky. Little did he know his 'cover' was already blown – he hadn't anticipated her time with Rex being so short.

"Axel!" Xirena called out, causing Axel to flinch slightly in shock.

Xirena jogged over to her friend, who slowly turned around to greet her, and he appeared a bit... 'off.'

"Something wrong?" He asked, trying to compose himself, but before she could answer he noticed the work she had done, "Hey, you didn't let Rex mess you up, good for you. I thought he'd try to force something wacky on you no matter what."

"Yeah Rex did good but I-"

"Yeah he did do a pretty good job, huh? I'd never have trusted him with scissors near my hair, you're braver than me."

"O-Oh ok Axel, thank you but-"

"Why do we even LET Rex have scissors anyway..." Axel pondered out loud.

"Shh!"

Axel was shocked. Before him stood a flustered looking Xirena, with her index finger pressed firmly up against her pink lips. SHE was the one that shh'd him?! No way! Now Axel was the confused one, dropping his head to the side and narrowing his eyes curiously. For her to be so forward, something indeed must have been wrong.

"Sorry, Zee." He apologized, quieting down, "What's going on?"

"It's something important. Super important." She insisted, beckoning for him to lean down, since she couldn't get at his ear to whisper on just her toes alone.

Xirena rose to her toes and Axel bent down a bit, giving her prime 'whispering position access.' Zee's lips twitched, and then murmured something into Axel's curious ear...


	17. Seldom Dared Dream

**A/N: Hello again friends, another chapter for you! I'm happy with the pacing of how these chapters are coming out, which is something I hope to keep up, but writing times are unpredictable. Hopefully you all enjoy, and feel free to check out my facebook fanpage that's linked in my profile, or the Zee/Axel AMV that's linked there too!**

**Chapter XVII: Seldom Dared Dream**

**There's no relief** ,  
**I see** you in my sleep  
And everybody's rushing me,  
But I can feel you touching me  
There's no release,  
I feel you in my dreams  
Telling me I'm fine

_Where..._

Darkness surrounded him, but not the usual yet uncanny nature of the darkness the Nobodies harnessed, but natural darkness. A night-drenched land that seemed to stretch infinitely in every direction... The only features were knee-high grasses and cattails that blew gently in a barely there breeze. The plant life danced about him as he looked around, finding no trace of mountains, cliffs, trees, roads or any sign of life to speak of. Just him there, nobody else but The Flurry of Dancing Flames. Axel didn't recall how he got there, in fact the last thing he remembered was getting home to the castle late at night after making an emergency visit to the Commercial District. It had been so late when he even just ventured out that he had to beg the Dusk running the store he went to to stay open passed closing hours just for a bit. Axel was lucky that Dusk was so lenient about the rules... and also that Dusk knew it could be easily replaced if it pissed off Axel and ended up dead.

_It's so dark here, I've never been to a night land like this..._ Axel thought, _Wait a minute... Night... Night means stars!_

Axel nearly broke his neck as he rapidly looked straight up, with a grin spreading across his face with equal speed. There above and around dotting the endless blackness were tiny twinkling white specks in the sky – it was no mistake, he found a star-filled sky... Now the problem was getting Zee to this place, which looked impossible as it was since he had no idea how he even got there in the first place. His head sank from high to low in no time, punctuated with a deep, groaning sigh.

"Can't believe this." He muttered, raising his hand to his face and rubbing his forehead as if this ordeal were giving him a literal headache, "The perfect place and I'm having an amnesia attack."

"What is am-nee-sha?"

No way, it couldn't be. If Axel had a heart it would have exploded out of his chest in delighted shock. That voice was unmistakable, he didn't have to see to know who it was, but he turned around without hesitation anyway.

"X-Xirena?!" He exclaimed.

And there she stood, just as he expected. The violet headed girl nodded excitedly with a sweet smile, sending her locks bobbing up and down around her face. It was hardly important at the time, but it was just a reflex at this point for Axel to answer any question she presented to him.

"Well amnesia is when you lose some amount of memory. Either a little or a lot." Axel explained, "See I said that because I forgot how I got here... Which... Wait, how did you get here?"

"Um." Zee began, but after a pause she shrugged her shoulders, "Beats me! I just got here."

"Huh..." Axel said, shoving his hands in his pockets and pondering, "None of this makes any sense..."

Something in his pocket stole his attention away from the bizarre situation, however. In his right pocket he felt an object in it that he fingered at curiously for a moment. Axel couldn't possibly discern what it was just by feeling through his glove and swiftly pulled it out. In his hand laid a light blue, silky ribbon.

" _Th-Thanks a bunch, man!" Axel exclaimed as he ran passed the Dusk operating the store._

_The sign above this store indicated that it served a much different purpose than the music store. It wasn't as flamboyant as it lacked neon lighting, it was one of those 'simple but effective' signs. The ornate letters on it read 'Duskan's Clothing and Accessories.'_

" _Alright what's for hair what's for hair..." He panicked, racing around the store trying to find hair clips like Demyx suggested._

_The Dusk had followed Axel, just to make sure he didn't pull something shady like shoplift or screw up the tidy shelves the Dusk had painstakingly organized on a regular basis. The Dusk hovered up to Axel's shoulder and gave him a polite tap on the shoulder. Catching the red head's attention, the Dusk pointed to a section that was obviously labeled 'Hair,' but Axel had no time to feel stupid, he had a mission to accomplish._

" _...Thanks again." He uttered, striding over to the indicated section with a twinge of embarrassment that he pushed down._

_He dove into the hair items with no damn clue what to do. He saw hair clips of great variety – some plain, some fancy and some straight up gaudy. Plain clips wouldn't do, but none of the fancy ones stood out to him and there was no way he'd buy one of the gaudier monstrosities. Scanning the area, he saw a table nearby that could save him. Heading towards it proved a good idea, as it became abundantly clear that what he needed would be here. The table was full of ribbons, hair scarves and wraps. His eyes looked over the table only briefly before he made his decision, picking up a cyan, silky piece of slim-cut fabric._

Staring at it for only a moment, Axel thrust his hand out straight towards Xirena, who looked puzzled.

"It's a gift." He spoke, "For your hair."

"A gift for my hair? Neat! It says thank you."

"Not literally like that but whatever works." Axel laughed as Xirena plucked it from his hand.

"It's such a pretty color!" She marveled, holding it up in front of her face closely.

"I thought it'd go nice with the purple." Said Axel, who noticed all she was doing was staring at it, "Need help?"

Axel took the ribbon back and stood behind her, tying the ribbon so it sat in her hair offset to the side – her hair was too short to really ponytail, especially with a ribbon.

"There! Perfect."

"Thanks Axel." Xirena said.

"But I got something even better..." He said, walking out in front of her with his back to her, pointing up, "Check it out Zee, there's your stars."

No response.

_Eh?_

Axel turned around and now found himself even more shocked than when she appeared, because Xirena had now disappeared into thin air. He looked in every direction, a deep panic settling in his mind. There was nothing, just like before she showed up, there was absolutely no trace of anything in any direction.

"Xirena?" He called, answered with nothing, so he elevated his voice to a piercing scream "XIRENA!"

"XIRENA." Axel shouted, shooting up in his bed, "What the?! I'm home?!"

This situation grew more strange by the minute, but he had to say, being here felt much more real than where he just was. The other place, the field of night, felt unreal and had a dream-like quality to it. That's because this _was_ reality, and where he just was... was not.

"Was I..." He murmured, "Was I dreaming?"

* * *

Late nights or not, every day was a work day, and after a jarring subconscious experience Axel was oddly motivated to get out of bed that day. He'd planned to tell Zee all about it either later or if they got put on a mission together. But something stopped him dead in his tracks when he entered the Gray Area. As it were everyday, some of his comrades were dotted around the room with the usual suspects – Zee, Demyx and Rex – bundled together. Axel's throat tightened when he saw them, though. Nothing was overtly wrong with the picture of the three of them together, but one small detail was enough to drive Axel bonkers if only for that small moment.

Xirena was wearing a blue ribbon in her hair. _The_ blue ribbon.

It was tied exactly how he did it in the dream, and if that weren't confirmation enough, he shoved his hands into his pockets and felt around – nothing. No ribbon at all. That was HIS ribbon for her for sure.

"I gave it to her in the dream and it crossed into reality?" He said under his breath. Xirena's voice carried over to him as she spoke with her other friends.

"...And then I just woke up with a ribbon in my hair!" She said, sounding like she was at the end of an explanation.

"Well heeeeeeeeeey there guys..." Axel said as he moseyed on up to his friends.

"Axel! Axel!" Xirena exclaimed, "I had the neatest dream last night and you were in it!"

"I guess you could say I did too." Axel countered, "Night time? Big field with nothing but tall grass? We both were there? I gave you a ribbon? There were stars?"

"Yeah! Yeah! Except I didn't see any stars."

_YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME_ Axel thought, chewing hard on his cheek.

"So you two had the same exact dream... and Zee wakes up with a ribbon in her hair after you gave her one in the dream, the same exact dream the both of you had." Demyx pondered, stroking his chin and pacing, "The obvious conclusion is that Zee's dream power manifested itself and she visited your dreamscape, Axel."

"Huh?" Zee, Axel and Rex all said.

"Like a dreamworld kinda place!" Demyx clarified, "We all have pretty straightforward powers except for Zee-mama, right? I have water, Axel has fire and Rex has wind... but dreams? How do dream powers work?"

"You know..." Axel responded, "You're right. I've never seen her use her dream powers before, anyone else?"

"Obviously not me!" Demyx said.

"Same. Haven't seen anything out on missions or at all." Rex confirmed.

Xirena looked worried as her friends gossiped about her honestly baffling power.

"This doesn't sound good..." She said.

"Nahhh this just means we have something to discover! A mystery to solve! If you can wander into other people's dreams, imagine what else you can do!" Demyx excitedly pondered, "If only we knew how to trigger her power so we could do experiments... Hey, maybe Vexen cou-"

"No, we should just leave it alone." Axel insisted.

"Ohhhhh come on Axmaster, aren't you the least bit curious after what happened to you? She walked into your dream and took something back from it to the real world!" Demyx, who seemed to be the only one with his mind blown by this, went on, "Who knows how far dream power extends... and how it could be used."

"Yeah, it seems like it could be dangerous..." Axel warned, "We know nothing about it..."

"I-I didn't do it on purpose! I swear!" Zee wailed, her head falling into her hands, "I don't know how I did it, I just found my way there... I'm sorry Axel."

"No no no Zee, don't apologize." Axel urged, shoving Rex away and sitting next to her, "You didn't do anything wrong, we're all just kinda... confused and curious."

"Oh... oh ok." Zee said, her hands slipping down and back to her lap.

From the shadows of the hall, Saix stood out of sight from the others, but he had a perfect view for himself. A perfect view of Axel and Xirena interacting in a sincere way, something you wouldn't expect to see in a 'fake' friendship with someone you find 'annoying and stupid' like Axel had assured Saix several times already. Saix grimaced, his doubts in Axel rising again. Even worse, the fact that they were hanging out together in their dreams suggested they actually were quite close, closer than Saix could have ever expected. His nostrils flared and a growl rumbled in his chest – Axel must have lied to him, which lead to Saix wasting no time in figuring out how to strike back at him for his lie.

"Maybe..." Demyx began his next conjecture, "It just automatically happened because you two are super close and stuff? Maybe she did something she was unaware of? There's gotta be a way we can figure all this out."

"I really don't think we should be playing with fire like that." Axel insisted again, "Who knows whether it could be dangerous or not."

"Whatever she can do, it's weird someone like... her... is given such a complex power." Said Rex, "But at the same time it's pretty useless, huh?"

"Don't say that!" Demyx shouted, "Nobody even knows anything at all yet! I'm telling you, testing is the way to go."

"HOW BOUT THIS." Axel spoke loudly, to take control of the conversation, "Let things happen naturally and we'll report anything back to you, ok?"

"Mrehhh fine, fine." Demyx lamented.

"I think it's better that way too." Xirena piped up, "Dreams are special to people... I don't wanna just go running in on that without control of who or when. I wish I knew what I could do."

"Hey." Axel nudged her playfully, "Save 'that' for later."

Demyx and Rex exchanged curious glances as what Axel said registered with Xirena, who laughed quietly with him. Rex rolled his eyes, already over it, but damn was Demyx a curious little nerd.

"Ehhhh what's all 'that' now?" He probed.

"'That' is none of your business, that's what." Axel sternly replied, but in a still lighthearted manner.

"Alright, alright..." Demyx reluctantly surrendered, "You two and your little secrety secrets."

While all the levity was coming to an end, the doom and gloom known as Saix approached the group. With his clipboard in hand, he scanned the day's orders and cleared his throat loudly to gain the group's attention.

"Time for work." He said flatly. He was honestly happy to give out the tortuous work he had planned but his voice would never reflect that, "Rex and Xirena, Deep Jungle for recon."

"Ugggh..." Rex groaned, "I hate that filthy place..."

"But there's vines there! I swung on them last time and it was really fun!" Xirena said gleefully, "I'm excited."

" _You_ can break your neck swinging on vines hon but I'll sit that out, thanks."

"AHEM." Saix cleared his throat yet again, "Demyx and Axel, Agrabah to eliminate a large Heartless."

Saix knew Axel, and everyone really, hated Agrabah. He also knew that Demyx would be a nuisance to him all the way through the mission and Saix took great joy in that. However, he didn't expect Xirena to be jovial over going to the Deep Jungle – he hadn't heard of these vine swinging shenanigans until just now. This was all miniscule in scale compared to what he was brewing as punishment for Axel though, he didn't have a solid way to go about it yet, but he planned on pulling no punches.

"Well then?" Saix said, "Get to work!"

Everyone hopped up off the couch and paired up, heading for two corridors of darkness generated for them by Saix. Saix watched as Xirena and Axel waved good-bye to each other as they separated into the different voids with their partners. Saix grunted in displeasure quietly with his hands gripping the clipboard so hard it was at risk of being snapped.

"I wish..." Axel said as he followed Demyx into the corridor, "Wish we went to Wonderland."

"Eh? Why's that?" Demyx said as the path to the Gray Area closed behind them.

"Just something I wanna look for is there." He replied honestly.

"I bet it's for Zee!" Demyx teased, pulling a sigh from Axel.

"You're not wrong, I'll give you that..."

Surprisingly, Demyx left it at that, which was a relief for Axel. Divulging every last detail of his life to that nerd got tiring.

"Heh." Demyx laughed, "Say, when are we having band practice and auditions?!"

* * *

"Band practice numero uno: pick the songbird!" Demyx announced.

They had to quickly pick up a power strip on the way home to plug in all the electronics since outlets were scarce in their rooms, no way would they have enough without a power strip. While they had purchased them, microphones were being skipped over for the audition since they decided to do it in Demyx's room and there was no need for amplification in there. Rex, as per his petty wishes, was going first.

"Hello peasants." He said as he stood before his 'judges,' "I am going to be performing and impressing you all with Pillow Talk by Zayn Malik tonight."

Xirena being the supportive friend that she was, clapped for Rex to cheer him on, but Axel and Demyx were less generous on their cheery offerings. Demyx sat with a boom box next to him, and was nice enough to nab the karaoke tracks for the songs picked out. Without further ado, Demyx eagerly pushed 'play' on the CD and prepared himself...

"CLIMB ON BOAAAAARD" Rex wailed dramatically and unintelligibly, "WE'LL GO SLOW AND HIGH TEMPOOOOOO"

For nearly three and a half minutes this went on. Rex's struggle vocals weren't exactly what Demyx was looking for in the band, and the fact that Rex was trying to pull some kinda 'sexy' act during his song made _everyone_ uncomfortable. Once that three minutes of torture was up, Rex stood proudly in front of them all.

"Is there any NEED to audition any more?" He scoffed with his hands on his hips.

"Well, you know, to be fair to Zee and all..." Demyx semi-lied.

"Blah blah blah whatever we all know how this will end." Rex prattled off.

Xirena stood up to give her Rex a place to sit and Demyx fiddled with the boombox to get to Zee's song. In the quiet meantime, Axel plucked away at his bass strings a bit to get a feel for the instrument. After a moment, Demyx looked to Zee and gave her the thumbs up.

"Oh ok." She said and cleared her throat, "My name is Xirena and today I will sin-"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

To say it was knocking was an understatement. It was more like a desperate, rage-filled pounding up against Demyx's door. All four of the friends froze in fear when the first pound hit, certain of what would be on the other side. Without much hesitation, Axel silently volunteered to go handle the situation on the other side. As he passed by her, he instructed Zee to go sit back down, and she obliged without question. The pounding was near constant until Axel swung the door open swiftly.

"What is all that noise?!" Saix shouted.

"You pounding on doors and shouting." Axel replied with a smarmy smile.

"Don't get smart with me, Axel." Saix scolded, pushing passed the unsuspecting red head and into the room.

Saix growled as he approached the other three, taking in all the room had to offer. Various instruments, a couple of amplifiers, microphones and other such musical necessities... It wasn't a pleasant sight to the Berserker, in fact it was almost sickening the amount of fun that could take place with all that equipment. He'd only expected to scold them for loud singing, he had no idea they had all this equipment with them, which only added to their potential 'sentence.' With a huff, he turned back to Axel.

"All of this, get rid of it." He ordered sternly.

"W-Wha? But we just got it!" Demyx whined from behind, "We just wanna have a fun band thing, that's all."

"It wasn't a suggestion, Demyx." Saix said, looking over his shoulder, "Disband the band, get rid of this garbage and don't be such nuisances ever again, or you'll be Dusks for months."

Without any further words, Saix stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him. First he finds out about Sunny, and now they made the mistake of doing this music thing in their rooms rather than go to Zee's Void of Reverie where loud music couldn't be heard. Clearly nobody had thought of that, least of all Zee. But surely if they were able to successfully hide a pig for as long as they had now, they could hide their band equipment, right? But trying to get it all to the Void of Reverie without being seen somehow would be more difficult than the pig when it came down to it.

"Well guys I guess that's it..." Demyx lamented, "We could hide the instruments for now and just not use em, maybe we can do it again in a few months once he's forgotten about it and we'll just be smarter about it."

"Wishful thinking, Demyx." Axel said, "We're already risking our skins with Sunny, we shouldn't push it with him."

"Just for the record," Rex piped up, raising a finger, "I would've gotten the singing part, right?"


	18. The Future Is Cold

**A/N: Hi there! Back again with an update. Don't have much to say in the way of author's notes this chapter so let's just get on with the show and enjoy!**

 

**Chapter XVIII: The Future Is Cold  
  
**

_I'm exhausted with loving_ __  
_No fight in me- I'm defeated_ __  
_I know I'm fooled, I can't help it_ _  
_ _You make_ _**my heart** _ _so helpless_

 

 

Over time the group, mainly lead by Demyx, tried to concoct ways to somehow get their band idea going. Axel would always remind him that no matter what, Saix would sniff it out. They were lucky enough that he hadn't figured out that Sunny was still in the Castle, so why push their luck even further? The coming and going of time was especially rough on Xirena, as Saix would send Axel away on Castle Oblivion missions as frequently as he could. It was true Axel was the only man for the job, but Saix took great pleasure in separating Axel and Zee. Still, just about any time Axel saw Saix he made it a point to bring up his disdain for Xirena, but Saix was onto him and Axel didn't have a clue.

Now, though, Axel was home – much to the relief of Xirena. He had been as such for a few days now and it seemed as if all was returning to normal since he was being sent out on normal missions again – but still, Saix did all he could to keep the dynamic duo separated. Saix couldn't do a thing about controlling their free time though! The main thing Zee did in her time while Axel was away was dance. Hours could melt away and she'd still dance til her feet couldn't carry her anymore. If she had a heart she would dance it right out.

_Let your body talk!_

Slick beats and heavy synths quieted in The Void of Reverie where the pair of Axel and Xirena were. Xirena was in the center of the room, breathing heavily and standing stiff in her finishing pose that concluded her dance number. Axel, sitting a safe distance away, grinned and gave her the applause she rightfully deserved.

“What song was that again?” He inquired as his clapping ceased.

“Body Talk,” Xirena promptly answered, her body relaxing into a normal posture, “By a girl named Foxes, I think.”

“Well, it was a great one as usual.” Axel assured her, “All those spinning things where you raise one foot to your other knee look tough.”

“You mean pirouettes?” Xirena asked him with a giggle.

“Yeah, if you say so! You know more about this dancing business than I do.” Axel answered with a smile.

The air was sweet, but something weighed heavily on Axel that he kept avoiding. He encouraged Zee to keep dancing and dancing just so he could put off talking about it, but for how much longer could he put it off? Not much, surely. He hummed softly, his head dropping along with his smile. Xirena tilted her head, having picked up on the fact that something wasn't quite right with Axel then and there.

“I got some bad news, Zee.” He began, staring at the floor.

“Huh?” Xirena peeped, “What do you mean?”

Axel threw his head back up, now staring at the high ceiling as opposed to the glossy hard wood floor he was just gazing at – anywhere to avoid looking at Xirena as he spoke. He blew out a puff of air before he continued.

“Look, I know I only just got back home not that long ago but...” He began somberly.

Xirena immediately became distressed by his tone of voice and fell to the floor, crawling over close to him. She kept peering him about the face, trying to gain his eye contact, but to no avail. Axel continued...

“Saix is sending me out on another extended mission to Castle Oblivion tomorrow.” He said, just getting it over with.

Xirena sat back looking devastated. Axel lowered his gaze to a proper level and cracked his neck loudly. He watched as Xirena shook her head back and forth slowly and sadly, as if she were just told of someone's sudden and unexpected death. Heartbroken was the best word one could use to describe Xirena at that moment.

“But...” She started, looking back up at Axel.

“I can't go against orders, Zee,” He said in a sad but firm voice, “You know that.”

“Yeah, I know...” She replied.

“I'm sorry Zee.”

“Wait!” An idea just struck the girl, “What if I go with you? We can-”

“Are you crazy? You absolutely can't come with me, Zee,” He said, firmer than before, “And we can... well, nothing about that now. The walls have ears.”

“Huh?” A freshly confused Xirena asked.

“Err, never mind.” Axel dismissed, “Just understand that we have to go where we're told, it's part of the job.”

“I know... I know.”

 

* * *

 

The next day's mission was nothing of note. Axel was gone before she'd woken up and Xirena ended up paired with Rex for the day and all of his endless talking felt like an empty buzzing in her ears. Rex knew very well it was the perfect opportunity to steal Xirena away for hang outs after work with Axel gone, but Xirena had turned him down on it. Normally, Rex would simply _insist_ but he felt strangely bad for Zee and didn't push the matter. She would just be a mopey dope anyway, no matter how much Britney Spears Rex would blast.

So there she found herself in bed, laying on her stomach almost nose-to-nose with Sunny. The pig would poke her wet nose against her momma's every so often, just to try to get some sort of laughter or positive reaction out of her. Unfortunately, all of Sunny's efforts were ineffective and Xirena remained in her low state, a state you could only really call depressed as it went far beyond a mere superficial sadness.

“What do we do, Sunny?” Xirena murmured, her chin resting on crossed arms, “Saix scares me when Axel isn't here... Nothing feels fun or right either.”

Sunny oinked.

“No, I don't feel like having Rex paint my face with that make up stuff right now...” Xirena answered.

Sunny let out another suggestion oink.

“I don't feel like reading with Zexion either.” She replied sadly.

Defeated, Sunny rested her chin flat on the bed and stared at Zee with eyes full of empathy, and fully aware that there was nothing she could do to help Zee feel better. Sunny had a few other suggestions up her sleeve, like hanging out with Demyx or dancing, but she knew it would be a futile effort to even suggest anything more. Xirena abruptly rolled over onto her back, her ruby eyes staring at the blank and sterile ceiling.

“Castle Oblivion...” She whispered, trying to imagine what such a place would look like. To her, though, there was a far better option right now than just wondering.

* * *

 

She waited until it was late at night before she began her journey. She didn't want to get Sunny involved so Xirena was firm in her instructions that she had to stay in her room. Sunny worried, though, what Xirena planned to do was in no way, shape or form a good idea. The pig sat on her bed as Zee cautiously opened her door and peeked out, checking to the left and right. Sure that no-one was there, she slipped out of her room and quietly closed the door behind her. The halls were dark and eerie, but there was no time to be scared. Xirena made her way to the smaller (in comparison to Zexion's) library everyone had access to, which also was home to a huge computer-like device.

Xirena had never used this machine before, but her determination spurred her to just figure it out. She placed her hands on the keyboard and began to slowly type out 'Castle Oblivion.' Zee was initially disoriented by all the text that popped up from the simple search, but pushed passed it and scanned the words as carefully as possible. Satisfied, she nodded to herself and opened up a dark corridor, slipping away... neglecting to turn off the machine – and little did she know, she wasn't exactly alone while she was searching.

Xigbar appeared from the shadows with a smug grin on his face as he approached the computer. He took a quick look at the screen and barked out a laugh, having seen what Xirena searched for and figuring out what she planned to do with that information. With a few button presses, The Freeshooter erased the search and powered off the machine.

“Ohhh Bubbles, you're in trouble now,” He said, “Saix will love this.”

 

* * *

 

Axel wandered Castle Oblivion, which was never a happy experience, but something inside of him was eating away at him dreadfully, making it more miserable than usual.

_We can't just go and..._ He thought.

He bit at the spot on his cheek as he pondered, his emotional side caught in a desperate fight between his logical side.

_But if we did.. No! It's just dumb._

Suddenly he felt a shift in the air, something hard to explain exactly, but he knew what this shift meant: Someone else had entered the castle.

 

* * *

 

The other end of the portal opened up in a blindingly white room and Xirena stumbled out clumsily, having run at top speed through the dark corridor. As she caught her breath, Xirena took a look around the strange, new place. It was mostly featureless, save for a door at each end, some columns and a short stairway that lead up to the far door.

“Axel!” She called, with no answer, “Axel, where are you?!”

He obviously wasn't in that room, so Xirena sprinted to the far doorway, ascending the short stairs and pushing it open. The double doors were heavy so it took all her strength to open them up. She still couldn't catch her breath, but she just chalked it up to all the running and having to deal with these doors.

Next room. No Axel. Just another far-end door.

Xirena dragged her feet towards it when she heard a familiar sound behind her, the sound of a dark corridor opening up. Weary, the girl turned around, not sure what or who to expect.

“What are you doing here?!”

It was Axel.

“Axel...” She breathed.

“And just how on Earth did you even find this place?”

“I looked it up on the library computer...” Xirena explained, somehow still breathless, “I had to come... Axel, I just had to... H-How did you find me, though?”

“I felt a new presence in the Castle so I followed my instincts,” He quickly explained, getting back to the more important matter, “Look, it's really bad that you came here, do you understand? You have to go home, Xirena, you have to go home _right now._ ”

“I don't...” Xirena slurred, “I don't feel so good...”

Xirena's vision started to blur and her head pounded like a drum. Axel stared on in confusion, in a mixed state of anger and concern.

“Pull it together and get OUT of here!” He shouted, grabbing the unsteady girl by her shoulders, trying to help her balance.

Xirena grabbed her head and her knees buckled, thankfully Axel already had a tight grip on her so she didn't tumble down to the floor and hurt herself, but something about the castle itself was hurting her. Images flashed through her mind of different people and places – people and places she'd never been to or seen in any form at all before. A young boy, an older boy with spiked brown hair, a blue haired woman, an older and sinister looking man and... a purple haired young girl. Each time the image of the young girl flashed in front of her it was always from the back, and whenever the vision of the youngster was about to turn around and show her face, the scene in Xirena's head quickly changed before her face was visible.

“Something... here...” She slurred.

With those few words uttered she fully collapsed, Axel quickly adjusting to catch her, albeit it a bit awkwardly. The man re-adjusted and hoisted her up to carry her in the 'bridal' style position, muttering as he did so – cursing at the fact that Xirena would do something so foolish. Axel opened up a dark corridor to head for home because really, what else was he to do now?

* * *

 

“Saw it with my own golden eyes.” Xigbar spoke.

The casual gunner stood in front of a furious Saix in the Gray Area, hands in his pockets and a smug grin on his face. Saix was about ready to go berserk, as Xigbar had just told him about what he witnessed Xirena do earlier.

“This is unacceptable.” Saix said, trying to hide his rage by gritting his teeth, “You were very helpful, Xigbar, I'll make sure Lord Xemnas is made aware of your fine work here.”

“Hey, I just love to snoop, it's easy for me and always rewarding.” Xigbar snickered.

“Whatever your motivations may be, you were still a great help. Off with you now.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever. I'm ready for a snooze anyway.”

Xigbar disappeared into the darkness of the residential hall, heading towards his room. It was late, and Saix figured there was nothing to be done right now, not until Axel got back. However, luck was on Saix's side, as a dark corridor appeared nearby. Axel stumbled out of it with an unconscious Xirena in his arms. The ginger's eyes widened in fear when he saw Saix, while Saix's cold eyes narrowed in disgust and rage.

There was no way that Axel truly disliked Xirena and Saix was sure of it now. The girl had to be punished regardless since she defied the general order of things in The Organization that night, but Saix brewed a special punishment in his mind just for her, one that would hurt Axel as well in the process. Thinking about it calmed his rage a bit, but not enough. Without a single word, Saix calmly walked away from Axel and Xirena, leaving them alone in the dim room. Axel panted, having run through the corridor at top speed and with extra weight to carry. The way Saix looked at him greatly unnerved Axel though, and he feared the worst for Xirena, but Axel had no comprehension of what 'the worst' could possibly be...

 


	19. Lavender Dreams

**A/N: Hey! Sorry it's been a while, but you guys know how I am with updating. Sometimes fast, sometimes medium pace, sometimes slooooooow and I apologize for the slow times. Anyway, just as an aside, that Timberlake song 'Can't Stop The Feeling' reminds me of Axel's feelings for Zee and for once it's not an angsty sad song (I have so many of those)! But don't tell Zee, she hates Justin Timberlake because she thinks he broke Britney's heart. Well, here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy! Please consider liking my facebook fanpage that's linked in my profile.**

**Chapter XIX:** **Lavender Dreams**

 _If_ **you** could only see the beast you've made of me  
I **held it** in but now it seems you've set it running free  
Screaming **in the dark** , I howl when we're apart  
drag my teeth across your chest to taste **your beating heart**

 

"So she has seen Castle Oblivion."

"That is correct, sir."

Much as they did the very first time she arrived, Xemnas and Saix stood over a seemingly sleeping Xirena. Axel had managed to cleverly stash away Sunny before any hooplah started, having moved her temporarily to Demyx's room. The red head, however, was nowhere to be seen now. The girl's face would twitch here and there while she slept, perhaps indicative of being in a dream state.

"...No matter." Xemnas said after a long pause.

"But sir?" Saix asked in astonishment, having so hoped to hear something more vicious from his leader. In his mind it had been an act of huge transgression against the Organization and deserved something harsh.

"I _said_ no matter." Xemnas repeated, "No damage has been done to it, all she will get is a light reprimanding for disobedience in the Round Room."

* * *

 

"What am I doing out in the city?"

Xirena was wandering around The World That Never Was, right in front of Memory's Skyscraper, which dwarfed the other still impressive structures. She ponderingly pressed her index finger to her pink lips as she looked around, sensing that not all was as it seems in the city. The last thing she remembered was passing out in Castle Oblivion, so why on earth would she be in the middle of the city? She didn't even remember waking up for that matter.

"Oh well," She shrugged, "Guess I should head hom-"

Pop!

In front of her appeared a brightly colored animal, but not exactly a normal one in regards to anatomy either. It looked like something you'd see in Wonderland or the like – it was rather rotund and mainly blue with a dopey look on it's face. Then next to it popped in two more mysterious creatures, these ones looking like bunnies with a wild yellow and green coloration. Zee's arm dropped back down as she tilted her head at the beings. She felt no fear as the creatures gave off an aura of happiness and peace, nothing malevolent at all.

"Wha?" She asked.

 _Those are Dream Eaters._ a voice in her head answered.

"Dream Eaters? What are those?"

_They eat nightmares, they're friendly._

"Oh ok." Zee responded, then pressed on, "Do you know where I am?"

_You're in the Dreamscape. Your world isn't slumbering but your power over dreams constructed a familiar Dreamscape for you to run away to while you sleep. Like a safe haven for you._

"That doesn't make a whole lot of sense but if you say so." Xirena shrugged.

Behind her popped up even more Dream Eaters in an assortment of animal types: frogs, giraffes, snails... It was a wondrous sight to behold. Xirena knelt down to one of the bunny Dream Eaters and pet it on the head, with the bunny pressing up into her hand to show it was enjoying the head rubs. Zee giggled, these things were just too cute.

"I gotta show Axel this place!" She exclaimed.

_You can't. This space is just for you so you can rest._

"Oh ok..." Xirena said, disappointed. Her spirits sank a bit, but it was hard to be sulky when such cute animals were pouncing all around you.

_Stay here as long as you want, but remember, you have to wake up sometime. You can't run away forever._

Xirena nodded, but had no intention of 'waking up' just yet. It was nice in this Dreamscape, she quite liked it, it's quietness and peace was a surprisingly comforting thing. However, something about this place seemed exceptionally lonely – perhaps knowing that none of it was real gave off that impression. The voice in her head didn't even alarm her one bit. Most people would check themselves in with a doctor if they were hearing voices, but Zee just wrote it off as dream magic. She was far too busy interacting with her new Dream Eater friends to care. However, one thing she didn't notice was that the voice in her head was that of her own...

* * *

 

"If Xemnas said to let it go then just let it go, man."

Saix stood now in Axel's room, where the red head was casually lounging in his bed, hoping that if he ignored him that Saix would go away eventually.

"What happened was completely out of line." Said said calmly, but with rage ready to be unleashed at any given moment, "I'll speak with Xemnas again, and tell him that she actually tried to escape the Organization."

"What?!" Axel shot up, "Hey, Saix, that's no joke. You'll get her killed."

Saix remained cold and silent as desperation appeared in Axel's emerald eyes.

"I'll tell him that you revealed it to me in secret, hoping I wouldn't pass it on. Maybe you'll get some sort of commendation, hm?"

"Take your commendations and shove em up your-"

"Now, now..." Spoke Saix, "No need to be that way, Axel."

"Come on!" Axel shouted, rising up from his bed and striding over to Saix, practically getting nose to nose with him, "She was just scared and confused, there's no reason to take the situation to such an extreme! Even if you tried to pull that 'run away from the Organization' bit, she came back, didn't she?"

"Yes, but it could be viewed that returning was against her will since she was unconscious."

Axel turned away and let out a loud grunt of anxiety and rage, his hands brutally clenching into fists.

"What do you hope to gain out of this, Saix?" Axel sneered, then added in a hushed voice, "I'm still in with you."

A lie. Again.

Saix raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, pretending to believe in Axel.

"I suppose it is a little over the top to put a member's life on the line... We do need all the man power we can get if we want to achieve our goals." Saix spoke.

"Yeah." Axel responded, internally sighing with relief, "See? You're a reasonable guy. She's a harmless bonehead but that doesn't deserve a death sentence."

"Quite so." Saix said dryly, "But if it happens again, perhaps next time I won't be as forgiving."

A rap tap tap suddenly came knocking on Axel's door, causing Saix to grimace. If anything was his cue for him to leave, this was surely it. Saix went to the door and opened it up, seeing Demyx and Rex standing there.

"Oh hey, Saix!" Demyx pleasantly greeted.

"Get out of the way." Saix grunted as he pushed passed the two.

"You have a good day too!"

Rex shook his head and rolled his eyes, then locked eyes with Axel and beckoned him with one of his hands. Axel was visibly confused, but approached the two anyway.

"We're gonna..." Demyx said, but then continued in a whisper, "Go see Zee and bring Sunny too. Come with!"

"Yeah, of course." Axel agreed, seeing Sunny poke her nose out of Demyx's hood to confirm her presence, as if Axel doubted it at all, "Let's go."

* * *

 

Sunny sprang out from Demyx's hood and landed with a soft thump on Xirena's bed. The slumbering dancer didn't react though, as she was still deeply embedded in her Dreamscape. The three stood over her in the same way Saix and Xemnas had done earlier. Axel's mouth was dry, unsure what to say, if anything at all.

"Do you think she's dreaming?" Demyx wondered, looking up to Axel.

"Dunno... Maybe." Axel shrugged, but he was suddenly grabbed and yanked down by Demyx.

"Look!" He pointed excitedly at Xirena's face, "She smiled!"

It was small but Demyx was right, Xirena had smiled in her sleep after Axel had spoken.

"It's totally because she heard your voice!" Demyx insisted, yanking on Axel's arm, "Or maybe she's dreaming OF you!"

"Oh come on now, don't be silly..." Axel dismissed, pulling himself away from Demyx's grip, "Why would she be dreaming of me?"

"Because she LIKES you, ding dong!" Demyx exclaimed, "And you LIKE her too!"

"Typical man." Rex sighed, "I guess Nobody men are just as bad as human men."

Sunny poked Xirena's cheek with her nose, causing her head to roll to the side a bit.

"Don't bother her like that, Sunny." Axel scolded. Sunny looked up to him and snorted in disdain.

"Hmm..."

"Eh?" A noise from all three of the men.

As if she were Sleeping Beauty herself, Xirena's eyes opened up slowly, her vision bleary. Sunny oinked happily and wagged her coiled tail, prancing back and forth next to Zee's face.

"Nice!" Demyx said, "Morning, sleepyhead!"

"Ohh my head is all woozy..." Xirena murmured as she carefully sat up, propping herself up by her arms, "How did I get back here?"

"Axel brought you home, duh. What did you think?" Rex remarked.

"I dunno..." Zee replied sheepishly.

"Shut up, Rex." Axel sneered, "What matters is that you're awake now, Zee. You're gonna be fine, Xemnas has no plans to severely punish you."

Demyx glanced back and forth between Zee and Axel, his mind working like cogs in a well oiled machine. He ribbed Rex.

"Say uh, why don't we go get Sunny's stuff and bring it back in here?" Demyx suggested, "With the two of us it'll only take one trip!"

"Ugh. Yeah, sure. Whatever."

"We'll see you two in a bit!" Demyx said, grabbing Rex by the arm and dragging him away, successfully getting Zee and Axel alone together.

Xirena shook her head like she was trying to shake off the wooziness she felt, but it wasn't doing her much good, if anything it made the disorientation worse. With a heavy sigh, Axel sat himself down at the edge of her bed with his head hung. He gave himself a slow head shake before lifting it to meet Zee's gaze.

"Don't you ever, _ever_ do that again." He said sternly. Xirena was shocked by his tone, letting out a tiny whimper. Axel continued, "What you did was wrong and you could have gotten us both in major trouble. Got it memorized?"

"Y-Yeah." Xirena stuttered, holding back a wave of stunned sadness, "I'm... I'm really sorry Axel."

Xirena looked away, feeling her eyes well with tears and nose grow stuffy. Zee really didn't want to cry, one because she knew by now that it was abnormal for Nobodies to cry, and two... she didn't want to do it in front of Axel. Yet she couldn't help it, she ended up sniffling loudly as she couldn't hold it back for long. When he heard her sniffle Axel lunged forward as if it were his instinct to do so and embraced Xirena tightly. Now Xirena had the despair shocked right back out of her as she felt the warmth of his arms around her.

"I don't mean to sound... well, mean." He said quietly in her ear, "I was just concerned."

Axel felt her nodding her head, knowing that she indeed understood the gravity of the situation. He made sure to hold her tight and long because he'd rather get shot in the foot than see the poor girl cry. Once her sharp sniffling stopped, he pulled away. Her eyes were a bit puffy and her nose was reddened, but she didn't full-on shed any tears. In fact, she was smiling again now.

"I got it." She said with a giggle, "I won't run away like that again."

"Good." Replied a relieved Axel, "Now, we gotta figure out how to celebrate you waking up!"

"Celebrate!" Xirena echoed enthusiastically, throwing her arms into the air.

"Hmm..." Axel wondered, "If I recall correctly you liked that Chinese food I got for us way back when... I'll see what Rex and Demyx want and we can all eat together in here."

"That sounds cool!" Xirena agreed. She thought back to that night when they had the dinner together, just one of the many things Axel had exposed her to, "That sure was a long time ago, wasn't it?"

"It sure was." Axel replied, "Still feels like just yesterday, though. Time flies, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess it does."

Silence fell and the pair stared into each others eyes yet again, as they often found themselves doing, communicating in an unspoken language. Axel felt a compulsion within him like he'd experienced before, again, from a night a long time ago. What he didn't know was that Xirena was pondering the same thing he was if you can believe it. Maybe it was the stress of it all making her emotional but she knew one thing for sure – she wanted to kiss Axel. Both of them started to slowly move closer together, nerves wracking at Axel. Time had grown painfully slow. Sunny looked away. Eyes began to close.

"WE'RE BACK!"

The two abruptly parted and Xirena covered her face which immediately turned red. Axel cursed internally as he turned and saw Demyx and Rex rush back in with Sunny's things.

"Oh I'm so _happy_." Axel said through gritted teeth, his words dripped with sarcasm.

"Yeah, totes didn't take THAT long." Demyx stated the obvious and plopping a box onto the floor while Rex placed another next to it, "So what's the plan now dude and dudette?"

"We were thinking about China food." Xirena answered, lowering her hands, "For all four of us."

"Yeah, just tell me what you all want and I'll pick it up. It's on me." Axel said, his inner fury beginning to calm.

"Really, Axmaster? Aw, you're the MAN!" Demyx exclaimed, slapping his buddy on the back with great enthusiasm. Axel surely would have a bruise from that one.

"In the meantime we can set up all of Sunny's things again." Said Xirena, looking to all her friends individually.

"Uhh... Yeah I guess." Rex reluctantly agreed. There was no good excuse for him to bail on his friend after the traumatic experience she had, and he secretly liked it anyway. The four of them quickly made a list of all the food to get, which made Axel's wallet hurt, but if there was any time to splurge it was now.

"Right. I'll head out." Axel said shortly, rising from his position on the bed and scuttling his way over to the door. He looked over his shoulder and gave his pals a quick wave good-bye before departing.

Xirena's head was still reeling from that almost-kiss. She wasn't quite sure what came over her to compel her to do that, but for once she and Axel were for SURE on the same wavelength with their feelings for each other. It had been Demyx's plan to leave the pair alone for a while to get some brief time together, but he didn't imagine he'd burst in and ruin such a moment. Sunny, however, was quite relieved. It would be _totally weird_ to watch her momma kiss someone, especially someone that the pig so frequently butted heads with.

* * *

 

Xirena had a spring in her step from the previous night. It was great fun sharing the Chinese food with her friends, even though Axel had to show her how to use chop sticks again.

"See ya, Sunny! You stay home today, ok?" Xirena commanded and Sunny nodded obediently.

Xirena smiled and waved at her beloved pig before opening her door and quickly scooting out. It seemed Axel was already gone, but that didn't dampen her spirits a bit because she knew she'd see him later.

"Number IX." Came a cold but familiar voice.

"Oh!" Xirena jumped, "Hi Saix!"

"May I speak with you a moment before I give you your mission?" Saix asked darkly as he emerged from the shadows.

"Yeah, sure!" The happy Zee said, not picking up on his sinister tone.

"I have something special to tell you..."


	20. A Sealed Tale Of Truth

**A/N: HI EVERYONE. Been a while, huh? I've missed you all terribly. In honesty this chapter was giving me a lot of trouble which is why it's taken so long, I kind of kept putting it off because I had to re-configure a few things about it and making it work was tricky at first. My spellcheck seems to have stopped working so there's a danger of spelling errors in this chapter and the chapters to come. Also, this chapter features a flashback to the end of Chapter 16 in case you need a reference. Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!**

 

**Chapter XX: A Sealed Tale Of Truth**

_Now_ _the smoke has cleared_ ** _  
_** _And the end_ ** _is near_ _  
_** _It was_ ** _my_** _illusion_ ** _  
_** _Like a broken_ ** _dream_** _I_ **_was incomplete_ _  
_ _But_** _your love was never the missing piece_

 

“Number IX.” Came a cold but familiar voice.

“Oh!” Xirena jumped, “Hi Saix!”

“May I speak with you a moment before I give you your mission?” Saix asked darkly as he emerged from the shadows.

“Yeah, sure!” The happy Zee said, not picking up on his sinister tone.

“I have something special to tell you...”

“Special?” Xirena asked as Saix guided her away from the Gray Area and to the unpopulated region down towards the end of the hall.

“Oh yes, what I have to tell you is _very_ special.” Saix assured her sarcastically, “It's about Axel.”

Xirena's eyes sparkled when he mentioned Axel, and Saix knew he had her in the palm of his hand now, ready to be built up or torn down. Darker and darker the hallway became as they marched, Saix wanted to be very secure about this and not have any undesirables pick up on their conversation.

* * *

 

“I don't know how you're NOT flippin' your lid right now, man!”

Axel and Demyx were hiding in the bushes of a forest clearing, the clip clop of hooves could be heard getting more and more distant from their position.

“I just don't see what was so cool.” Axel shrugged. Demyx elbowed him.

“Dude, that pumpkin turned into a carriage! With horses and everything!” Demyx exclaimed.

“Shh!” Axel shushed, “We don't know if anyone is still around.”

“Alright alright... Man, I wish I had a Fairy Godmother.” Lamented Demyx.

After a moment the two men cautiously stepped out of the bushes, where they had witnessed a girl named Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother prepare for the royal ball. This was inconsequential though.

“What would you even wish for?” Axel snarked.

“Oh I dunno, anything! That's the magic of it!” Demyx laughed, “Surely you have some wishes yourself, eh Axmaster?”

_Plenty_ Axel thought.

“I can picture it perfectly...” Demyx began, throwing his arm around Axel, “Zee, a sunny day at the beach, in a blue bikini, she needs help putting on sunscree-”

“Hey, knock it off!” Axel shouted, roughly shrugging off Demyx's arm, “Don't say... weird stuff like that.”

“Just yankin' yer chain buddy, don't flip your lid!” Demyx said, which was about as close to an apology as Axel was gonna get.

Axel groaned. They had stood around for long enough, they knew they had to get on with their mission. Nothing more than mere recon, but work is work. The two of them walked further out into the clearing, where the trees parted and the sky could be seen. The moon smiled down on the earth in a cresent sliver, flanked by the twinkling light of stars.

Axel froze.

“Eh? Something up?” Demyx asked his pal.

“Stars...” Axel murmured. Demyx raised an eyebrow at him, “Stars! There's stars here!”

* * *

 

“Where are we going?” Xirena asked, keeping pace with Saix.

“No further, this is fine.” He replied, coming to a halt.

It was no secret that Xirena was nervous, she was practically trembling and she had her hands clasped together tensely.

“S-So what do you need to tell me about Axel?” She spoke meekly. Saix turned around sharply and stared down at her.

“You think Axel is your friend, right?” Saix began.

“Umm... yes. Of course he is.” A confused Xirena replied.

“I wouldn't be so sure about that, Number IX.” Saix sneered, trying not to smile, “He and I have been friends for a very long time, and he's told me some things.”

“T-Things...?”

“Almost every time I saw him, he would tell me how much he hates you and that you're nothing but an annoying bother to him.”

“W...What?” Xirena's voice cracked and Saix nodded.

“How does it feel? To be betrayed?” Saix asked with deadly venom in his voice, “He's not your friend, Xirena. He never was. He just pitied you!”

Xirena's breathing began to hasten in pace and her throat grew dry. Saix felt immense satisfaction growing within him – he knew the fool would be easy to convince but he didn't expect it to be THAT easy. He wanted to laugh in her face so badly.

“No... that's not... no...” Xirena's voice was hoarse.

“It's true, you imbecile! Are you blind?” Saix shouted, “Who would want to be friends with an idiot like you? It was all fake, Xirena, all of it.”

Xirena's hand flew to cover her mouth to keep a whimper from escaping as tears welled up in her eyes. Her eyes darted back and forth and she began to back away before she turned on her heel and started to run away. Saix watched in satisfaction as the crying girl fled the scene, he hadn't felt such joy in a long time. Xirena escaped to the only place in the castle that could possibly be a safe place – her room. She barged in and Sunny jumped, shocked. Sunny was first happy to see her momma, but quickly noticed something was terribly wrong.

Xirena ran over to her bed and threw herself down, face first, where she unleashed her loud cries into her pillow. Sunny dodged out of the way just in time and hopped off the bed. The girl's body was being rocked with sobs as what Saix told her sank deeper and deeper into her psyche. She raised her head out of her pillow to take in a breath of air.

“Sunny... He was lying to me, he was lying this whole time...” Xirena whimpered in despair, “Axel lied to me!”

She sobbed again and shoved her face back into her pillow so her wails and screams were muffled. Images of various things they'd done together flashed through her mind like a painful montage – sitting together making wishes, dancing in the Void of Reverie, him showing her how to use chopsticks... Every little detail of their friendship was now reduced to nothing but a falsehood. The sensitive and naïve Xirena couldn't even for a second believe that Saix could've been the one lying to her, so much so that it didn't even come close to crossing her mind. Saix, effectively her boss, was the word of God.

* * *

 

Axel returned to the castle with Demyx, both of them looking satisfied.

“Go get em, tiger.” Demyx said to Axel encouragingly.

“Yeah, wish me luck.” Axel replied shakily.

“We're all rootin' for ya, dude!” Demyx called as Axel began to walk away down the hall.

Axel went over in his mind on how he'd get Xirena to The Castle of Dreams to show her a diamond sky. Waiting for them to potentially get sent there together for work wasn't an option, he had to find a way to whisk her away there in their precious free time. Axel stopped in front of her door, clearing his throat before giving it a knock. He waited. And waited. For nothing.

_That's weird, she should be back by now..._ He thought.

Even if it wasn't totally moral, he gave the doorknob a twist – it was locked.

“Now I'm getting worried...” He commented.

* * *

 

“ _Shh!”_

_Axel was shocked. Before him stood a flustered looking Xirena, with her index finger pressed firmly up against her pink lips. SHE was the one that shh'd him?! No way! Now Axel was the confused one, dropping his head to the side and narrowing his eyes curiously. For her to be so forward, something indeed must have been wrong._

“ _Sorry, Zee.” He apologized, quieting down, “What's going on?”_

“ _It's something important. Super important.” She insisted, beckoning for him to lean down, since she couldn't get at his ear to whisper on just her toes alone._

_Xirena rose to her toes and Axel bent down a bit, giving her prime 'whispering position access.' Zee's lips twitched, and then murmured something into Axel's curious ear..._

“ _I think I love you.”_

_Axel was taken aback by what she said, so much so that he literally had to take a few steps back. He choked on air and felt sweat bead up on his forehead. He quickly looked around before opening up his door and rushing Xirena inside. After quickly shutting the door he spun around to face the girl, who looked like a deer caught in headlights._

“ _Zee you can't just be going and saying weird stuff like that.” Axel said._

“ _But with everything you said about love and everything... it makes sense, doesn't it?”_

“ _Well I mean, yeah, but...” He choked, “We're Nobodies! We're not supposed to feel anything.”_

“ _But I do, I swear I do...” Xirena replied in a pleading tone, “But what... about you?”_

“ _M-Me?” Axel stuttered stupidly, “I... Well... See the thing is...”_

_For some reason Axel couldn't just reply with the truth, as if telling the truth was a dangerous thing. But what danger could there possibly be in it? What harm could be done?_

“ _I can't say I don't feel something or other about you but it's complicated because we're not supposed to feel anything at all, y'know?” He explained._

_However, this was dancing around the fact of the matter. As he stammered like an idiot, Zee just stared, her expression growing sadder and sadder as he avoided saying anything straightforward. Axel looked over to Xirena, who was red faced and nearly in tears. That was his breaking point – the red head jumped forward and embraced Xirena, tighter than he had ever hugged her before._

“ _I love you too.” He murmured._

_A sharp inhale rumbled through Xirena's body followed by a shivering exhale. The tears that were welling up in her eyes had no choice but to fall now, one from each eye. Axel pulled away and noticed her tears, so he promptly raised his hand to her face and wiped them away._

“ _S-Sorry.” She whispered._

“ _No need to be sorry.” Axel said soothingly, “But now... what do we do? We can't pursue anything here in the Organization.”_

“ _Well...” Xirena began sheepishly, “What if we left?”_

“ _What?! No, we can't do that!”_

“ _But what if we did?” Xirena spoke with authority for a change, “You said you'd find and protect me if I ever got lost, we can run away and protect each other. We could be happy.”_

_The idea, however dangerous it might be, grew more appealing to Axel by the second. Stay here in the Organization, living a life of pale monotony, or escape their sull fate together and find a place in the world together. Axel had a tough choice to make, one he needed more time to think about. For now, this would remain their secret, not even to be spoken about in private. Keeping Zee safe was his top priority._

 


End file.
